Incarnation
by BlackFox12
Summary: AU from the episode Changing Channels of Season five. Dean is having strange dreams of a past life. Fairies are beginning to make themselves known - but they aren't the harmless creatures from fairy stories. They have their own agendas...
1. Prologue

**Incarnation**

**Prologue**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the television show Supernatural and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Summary:** AU from the episode Changing Channels of Season five. Dean is having strange dreams of a past life. Fairies are beginning to make themselves known - but they aren't the harmless creatures from fairy stories. They have their own agendas... Contains original characters

**Warning(s):** Spoilers up to and including the episode Changing Channels of Season five; violence; some minor swearing; AU for the rest of season five

**Author's Note:** This story was written for the Big Bang Challenge 2011. This story is, in fact, complete - and I hope to upload two chapters a week until it's all uploaded. You can find the link to the story complete with artwork on my homepage. A huge thanks goes to my beta reader, Kuryakingirl, whose had to put up with me sending the story in incomplete parts and has been really helpful and encouraging.

Also, very big thanks goes to Shani and Tim - both of whom have read each update of Incarnation and encouraged (nagged) me to keep at it, even when I've been tempted to give up because the inspiration has been at an all-out low. Also, thanks goes to Ben - who read the whole thing in one day when I sent it.

All credit for the artwork used within the site on my profile goes to Amber and is pretty awesome ^^. You'll find the link to her livejournal in the Links section on my website, where you can find more artwork.

Finally, big thanks goes to the two moderators of the Big Bang challenge. They've both put so much work into making the challenge possible - and they've been doing it for five years now. They're awesome too!

* * *

><p>Dean tried to pretend that he was completely all right with being at the fair with Kandy Lister. His family was supposed to be leaving this weekend, and he'd decided that if he was going to do anything at this latest school, it would be to get into Kandy's pants. Unfortunately, that had meant that – instead of sitting in the Impala and having a hot, steamy make-out session – he'd been dragged along to a fair.<p>

The good thing was that at least Sam wasn't here to see Dean going along with something he'd already said that he wouldn't be caught dead doing.

Still, it wasn't all bad. Dean at least had Kandy on his arm, and her long black hair was brushing against his bare skin. As they walked past a romantic swan boat ride, Dean perked up a little and slowed his steps. It looked like things were looking up for him. "Hey, why don't we go for a romantic ride?" He nodded towards it, grinning at her.

Kandy lifted her head to follow the line of Dean's gaze, but didn't appear to be too interested. "Maybe later," she replied, and started steering him to a fortune teller's tent. "_This_ is where I want to go."

Dean started pulling back, but he didn't try too hard. "Oh, come on. You don't really believe in that stuff, do you?"

"Of course not, but it's good for a laugh." Kandy touched his face with a soft hand, and then leaned up to kiss him lightly on the lips. "You don't have to get your fortune told. Just come in with me for support. And afterwards..." She took his hand and pressed it against her chest.

The feel of his hand against Kandy's chest, with only the thin material of her blouse between their skin, was what helped Dean decide. Of course, he knew that the fortune teller would probably be a complete fake; but there was no harm in going with Kandy for moral support. What his Dad didn't know couldn't hurt him... or Dean. Plus, he was definitely going to get lucky later if he just agreed to do this thing...

Kandy smiled up at Dean, then slipped her arm through his once more, before steering him in the direction of the tent. "It won't take long – and then we can go do other stuff." She stepped through the billowing silk door, pulling Dean along with her.

Inside the tent, the smell of incense was so strong that it made Dean feel a little dizzy. He used his free hand to fan the air in front of his face, trying to diffuse the scent. Squinting through the slightly misty air, he saw a woman seated at a table, wearing a brightly-coloured dress and her hair done up in an elaborate hairstyle.

"Welcome," the woman said in a calm, quiet voice when Dean and Kandy looked over at her. She gestured towards the two chairs across the table from her. "Please, have a seat." She watched as Kandy stepped over to sit down, and then turned her attention to Dean, who remained standing by the entrance. "You too, Dean."

"Neat trick, that," Dean commented, stepping over and taking the seat next to Kandy. "What did you do, have one of your fairground cronies follow us?" His eyes were continually drawn towards the crystal ball resting on the table between them, but he kept most of his attention focused on the woman.

The woman smiled with bright red lips, and looked at Kandy. "You may look into the crystal ball first."

Kandy shifted a little in her seat and leaned in closer tot the table. She then reached into her pocket for her purse, drawing it out – but the woman held up a hand and shook her head. "I'm not asking for your money."

Dean shifted uncomfortably in his seat. In his experience, no one ever gave something away for free. This was only confirmed when Kandy – after peering into the crystal ball for several moments – finally sat back with a disappointed look on her face and shook her head. "I can't see anything. Let's go, Dean."

"Fine by me." Dean started to stand up, but paused when the woman reached out to stop him. "What?"

"Look into the crystal, Dean."

"Sorry, but I don't believe in that crap." No matter how hard he tried, though, Dean couldn't keep his eyes from returning to the crystal ball. He seemed to hear a female voice singing inside his mind in an unknown language and suddenly – despite his initial thoughts to that the fortune teller had to be a fake – he wanted to run. He wanted to find his Dad and tell him that the woman clearly had some kind of magic powers.

Dean's feet refused to move. He was aware of Kandy's eyes on him, but his attention was drawn to the crystal ball. It was glowing softly, and he found that he couldn't look away. Unbidden, his feet drew him closer. He placed his hands on the table, and leaned in to peer into the depths of the crystal ball, unable to help himself.

Images flashed across the surface of the crystal ball. Dean saw his own face, but the features changed, becoming the features of someone else. Smoke distorted the image and he briefly saw someone burning, tied to a stake. Screams echoed through his head, and he flinched. Ashes obscured the glass briefly, and Dean heard laughter before he saw the man he'd changed into lying dead on the ground.

Dean gasped and flinched back from the table, blinking as the images and sounds faded. He jerked his head up and turned his eyes from the crystal ball, angry at being tricked so easily. "That's just stupid! It's quite obviously faked. What did you do, use a holographic projector or something?" He turned to Kandy, angry now. "Come on, let's go!"

Wordlessly, Kandy followed Dean from the tent. It wasn't until they were both outside that she spoke. "I didn't see anything..."


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Dean grinned as the waitress brought his cheeseburger and fries over, and then made a face at Sam's salad. "Dude, seriously? It's the apocalypse, and probably the best excuse we have for eating junk... and you're eating salad?" He shook his head. "You're such a girl, Francis." When Sam didn't look up from his concentrated reading, he threw a fry at him, feeling an immense sense of satisfaction when it hit his brother in the forehead. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Sam looked up from his food and the newspaper article he was reading with a slight frown. "Dean, I'm trying to do research here. I know it's something you can't – or won't – do, but some of us actually care about getting all the information related to a case."

"Nah – I just leave the research to the geek." Dean grinned, then rolled his eyes when Sam refused to look up. "So what's got your attention, Sammy?"

"A murder – some guy killed with a sword," Sam replied without looking up. "According to the article, he was bleeding silver blood. And – get this – there was a witness who said that she saw this guy with huge, birdlike wings."

"Was this chick drunk or high? Cause let me tell you, you see some crazy things when you're high... or so I've heard," Dean added hastily when Sam looked up at him.

Sam didn't look too convinced, but apparently chose not to comment. "Well, the witness is supposed to be reliable; but saying that doesn't mean she is. But it's worth checking out, Dean, don't you think?"

"Why? Do you think we're dealing with an angel?"

Sam shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time we've been screwed with by one."

"Yeah, cause the last thing we need is to deal with the Trickster," Dean muttered, still annoyed over Gabriel shoving them into TV land. He had to admit, though, that it had been sort of fun to be inside Doctor Sexy MD, even if he wouldn't admit that out loud.

"It's not his MO," Sam replied, shaking his head. "Besides, we haven't heard anything from him since we trapped him in holy fire." He shrugged. "Maybe he's thinking about what we said to him – or, rather, what you said."

"I doubt it," Dean replied. "But we might be dealing with another rogue angel." He frowned. "But, Sam, angels don't bleed silver blood. Sounds like it's definitely something in our line of work, though. We can always check it out, and then call Cass if we need to."

Sam nodded, picking at his salad, and grimaced at Dean's plate of food. "Keep eating like that, you're gonna give yourself a heart attack. Eating salad every once in a while won't kill you, Dean."

"We're in the middle of the apocalypse," Dean pointed out. "I don't think it's gonna make much of a difference what I eat. Besides, remember when Zachariah messed with our heads? I think eating like that _was_ killing me." He flicked a fry at Sam, snickering when his brother rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sammy. Might as well lighten up for once."

"Yeah, well, I'd prefer to figure out surviving the apocalypse, Dean." Sam shoved his plate to one side. "I'm not hungry anymore."

"I can't even finish your food, since you got a boring salad." Dean sat back and sighed, finally surrendering to the inevitable and entering work mode – at least partially. "So what town are we going to?"

Sam glanced down briefly, biting his lower lip. "Ah, well..." His voice trailed off and he sighed. "The witness was a woman at Stanford University..."

"So, what? We're supposed to pose as students? Or teachers? The student part shouldn't be hard for you, Sammy." Dean's attempt at levity failed as his brother lowered his head even more and said nothing.

Jessica. Even after all this time, that was the wound that wasn't going to heal – not fully, anyway. Dean had never believed in soulmates, but he'd seen the way Sam had looked at his girlfriend. For her to die like that, in the exact same way as their mom... Even though Sam had shown interest in other women, he wasn't sure anyone could ever take Jessica's place. Certainly, there'd been no one Sam had ever been close to in the same way.

Dean was tempted to ask Castiel to send him back in time to kill Azazel all over again. Failing that, he'd settle for sending Lucifer back to his cage.

"Hey, maybe we can see some of your old friends," Dean said, trying to perk his brother up. "That is, if you made any outside of studying and getting good grades and playing with Jessica." He grinned, hoping Sam would take the bait.

Sam's head jerked up, and he mock-glared at his brother. "This coming from the guy whose best friend was a .45?"

"Hey, at least I could shoot the target and not my brother's sleeve."

"That was one time, Dean! And I was ten!"

"Details, details." Dean grinned, happy with his apparent success at distracting his brother. "Still, I guess you've got better at the whole aiming thing." He shoved a few fries over onto Sam's plate. "Come on, you know you want them."

"I told you, Dean, I'm not hungry." Despite his words, though, Sam began to eat the fries – but he made a slight face. "Dean, these are cold."

"That's not my fault. _You're_ the one who started the whole distraction from food thing." Dean stood up, pushing back from the table. "If you're done, we should get going. I want to get a good start on this latest case." He tossed some dollars onto the table to pay for the food, and then walked out of the café.

* * *

><p><em>Philip took a step backwards, and swung his axe at the tree. He had to chop three times before he succeeded in breaking through the wood enough for the branch to be hanging by a little piece of wood. Then, he pulled the branch the rest of the way, tossing it onto the pile already existing.<em>

_New blisters were breaking out on Philip's hands, and he paused briefly to wipe away the stinging sweat on his breeches. He stepped over to one of the other trees – but just as he swung the axe back, he heard the sound of flapping wings far above him. He paused, tilting his head back, and let the axe's head fall to the ground._

_Above Philip's head, a flock of seven swans flew through the air, moving far closer to the ground than most birds did. Philip could feel the breeze from their flight ruffling his hair; but he hardly cared about that, simply watching as the swans flew overhead._

_Philip knew that swans belonged to the crown, but it occurred to him that he could just kill one of the swans for food; and no one would be any the wiser, so long as he kept the evidence well-hidden._

_The swans were probably going to find a water source, and Philip guessed they would land on the lake. For a brief moment, he thought that maybe it would be better not to kill a swan, no matter how hungry he was. But when he put a hand to his stomach, he realised that he couldn't refuse to at least take this chance. It was close to winter, and none of them had enough money... or food. If he was careful, he could kill more than one; and then share one of the swans with other people in the village, and the magistrates wouldn't know anything._

_Slowly, Philip lifted his axe once more. He was more than a little used to moving quietly, and he barely made a sound as he walked along the path, following the direction the swans had flown in. He didn't need to look around for any signs of the swans' path; he knew the way to the lake._

_As Philip stepped out from between two trees, though, he paused, a little taken aback by the sight before him. Instead of the swans he'd expected, seven maidens were moving on the shore by the lake – talking, laughing, and dancing. Each had hair that was slightly different in colour, but their faces were enough alike that Philip guessed they were related – probably sisters._

_Philip looked around, and then couldn't help frowning a little while noting that there were no men around. It was very unusual for women to be outside alone, without a man escorting them, but it was more than that. Philip knew everyone in the village and he knew these women weren't among the people who lived there._

_There was no sign of the swans, and Philip knew he should probably get back to the village to trade his meagre supplies. However, his attention was drawn to one of the women. With long white-blonde hair that Philip had only ever seen on children, she was crouched by the lake - long, slender fingers dipping into the water. Then, as if feeling his eyes on her, she looked up – and their eyes met for the briefest of moments._


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Dean awoke with a slight start, his head having collided with the window as he'd slipped into sleep. He winced, rubbing at the sore spot, and sat up a little, casting a glance at his brother. "How long was I out for?"

"About an hour." Sam took his eyes off the road briefly to look at Dean. "You were tossing and turning so much, I was gonna wake you up if you didn't come out of it on your own. Did you have a nightmare?"

"Not really, just something about swans." Dean looked out of the window at the passing scenery. He shook his head and sighed. "Is it my turn to drive yet?"

"You had a nightmare about swans? Seriously? At least tell me they were vampire swans."

"I don't remember anything else, Sammy." Dean lightly punched his brother in the arm. He didn't really want to talk about what he might have been dreaming of. He was feeling more than a little uncomfortable and even though he'd slept for a bit, he was feeling more tired than he'd felt before. "You didn't answer my question."

Being tired wasn't exactly going to help with the hunting. Dean was going to have to rest up some more before he would be able to fight and not risk getting either him or his brother hurt or, even worse, killed.

"We're almost there, Dean. I might as well drive the rest of the way." As he spoke, Sam took the next turning. "What are we going as? Med students?"

Dean shook his head. "No reason for med students to be allowed in to see the body, is there? We'd be better off pretending to be Feds." He yawned. "We really need to grab some coffee – or I do, anyway."

"Dean, you were just sleeping. How can you still be tired? Is something wrong?" Sam glanced sideways at his brother.

"Nothing's wrong, Sammy. I just didn't sleep too well, is all." Dean shook his head. "Anyway, I can deal with it. Let's go and check out this body first, and then we can find a good motel to crash in before we go get some food." He looked at his brother. "Okay?"

"Sure, sounds good." Sam took the Sand Hill road exit, driving east. When they got to Pasteur Drive, he turned right, and parked on the Blake Wilbur Drive, to the left of Stanford Hospital and Clinics. He reached over to the passenger side and opened the glove compartment, getting out two of their fake IDs. "Should we grab a couple of suits?"

"And waste even more time?" Dean shook his head. "Nah – we look plenty smart enough anyway." He smirked and got out of the car, closing the door and giving the Impala a gentle, loving pat. "Let's go check out this guy with silver blood, then." He gave a quick grin and then pushed open the door to the building and stepped inside, knowing that Sam would follow him.

* * *

><p>"So was the guy high or drunk?" Dean asked the morgue doctor, after he and Sam had shown their fake IDs and told the man they were here investigating the unusual murder.<p>

The doctor shook his head. "The tox screen came back negative. There doesn't seem to be anything in the blood, colouring it silver, either. It's like the blood _is_ in fact silver. All of the tests I've run indicate that it's normal blood – just that the colour pigment is different. I don't know... maybe it's some kind of genetic mutation." He sighed. "I'll be happier when his family comes to claim him, and I can release the body."

Sam and Dean exchanged glances and then Sam turned back to the doctor. "Nobody's come to claim him?"

"No – and there was no identification on him. I don't know if running his fingerprints will get a match, but I suppose it's worth a try."

"Can we see the body?" Sam asked.

The doctor nodded. "Follow me." He turned, and led the way into the far room, where the bodies were kept in the cold drawers. There was a body on a gurney covered with a white sheet but the doctor walked past it over to the cold chamber, opened it and slid out the body.

The doctor pulled back the sheet to reveal that the body was that of a young man with long blond hair pulled into a ponytail. His features were sharply defined and his eyes were closed – but his face was far from peaceful. Apart from the marks from the autopsy that the doctor had performed, the man had innumerable slash wounds – as if from a blade – all over his body. The wounds were relatively clean, but there were still traces of the silver liquid around them and no sign of any actual blood.

"Would you give us a few minutes?" Sam asked.

The doctor nodded. "Of course. I'll be in my office." He walked out of the room.

"You got a theory, Sammy?" Dean asked.

"Not exactly a theory – more of an observation." Sam stepped closer to the body. "This makes me think of a Chinese method of execution – death by a thousand cuts. There was more slicing off of flesh involved in the execution, but it was also a death favoured for traitors." He looked at the body. "I can't count the amount of wounds there are here, but it looks like a lot. Must have been pretty painful."

"You're thinking that this guy was a traitor, and someone decided to kill him in a really painful way cause they were pissed off? Thinking they must have really hated him." Dean grimaced a little, but reached out to turn the man's hands over, checking the palms. "Okay, seems like this guy did a lot with his hands. See the calluses on them?" He frowned. "But there are no defensive wounds and no marks that indicate he was tied up. Can't believe that he would just stand there and let someone slash him who knows how many times with a sword."

"Unless it was done incredibly quickly," Sam replied. "Something that isn't human could probably slice up a guy that fast."

"I don't know, Sam... Didn't the chick say she saw wings on him? If she wasn't hallucinating, where are they now?"

Sam slowly turned his attention to the body. "Well, there's one way to find out. Guessing we need to turn him over and check on his back – you know, in case there's something that could explain the whole wings thing." He reached out to grasp the guy's shoulders, and then looked at Dean. "You're not gonna help?"

"I don't think so. I'll just act as a lookout." Dean turned his back on his brother and the body, smirking a little. He couldn't resist the opportunities he got to rile Sam.

"Dean, I think you'd better see this."

"I really hope you're not gonna show me anything puke-inducing, Sammy." Dean turned round, raising his eyebrows when he saw that Sam had managed to get the man rolled over onto his back, revealing what was there. "Dude... that's a pretty awesome tattoo." He moved closer, but didn't touch the design.

The tattoo was a pair of very artistically drawn wings with feathers like a bird's but patterned in a similar way to butterfly wings. Dean almost thought that – if he were to reach out to touch those wings – he would feel actual feathers. The thought creeped him out a little, and he took a slight step back. "Those aren't real wings."

"Yeah, this is going to sound nuts – but what if the wings remain as tattoos, but could become actual wings if he wanted them to?"

Dean stared at his brother for several long moments. "Have you been reading too many fairy stories? I mean, vampires I get... hell, even angels weren't that big a stretch... But guys with tattoos of wings that turn into actual wings? I think we're going too far into the realm of impossibility here."

"Dean... our life isn't exactly normal here. I would have thought you'd be more accepting of these kinds of weird theories."

"Somehow, Sammy, I get the feeling you're suggesting we might be dealing with actual fairies; and that kind of worries me." Dean shook his head. "We should talk to Cass. Maybe this is a different kind of angel." He took out his cell phone and started to dial Castiel's number.

"We haven't seen him since the whole Gabriel thing," Sam said. "Do you think he's all right?"

Dean shrugged. "Guess we'll find out." He put the phone to his ear, listening as it rang.

Castiel picked up a moment later. "Yes, Dean?"

"We've got something maybe you should take a look at," Dean replied. He told Castiel where they were, adding, "This guy's got tattoos of wings on his back – but someone said..." He cut himself off when Castiel appeared suddenly in front of him. "You have _got_ to stop doing that."

Castiel just looked at Dean for a moment before turning his attention to the body lying in the drawer, stepping over to it. "This is not an angel."

"Do you know what it _could_ be?" Sam asked.

Castiel looked up at them both, but seemed somewhat distracted. "Of course. This is a fairy." He paused briefly. "A dead fairy."

Dean and Sam exchanged glances, and Dean frowned. "You get demon blood back in your system, Sam?"

"Pretty sure I was just guessing there," Sam replied. "Of course I didn't know for sure." He looked at Castiel. "I wondered, but... the guy looks human. I mean, fairies are supposed to be tiny, right?"

"That's a common misconception," Castiel replied. "Fairies aren't the tiny little creatures humans tell stories about. They corrupt and they destroy."

"Are they evil, then?" Dean asked.

Castiel shrugged, turning his attention back to the body. "Perhaps not evil, but certainly dangerous." He turned to face both Dean and Sam. "You shouldn't be involved here. There are more important things to worry about right now."

"What, like the whole freaking apocalypse? You got some more information, Cass?" Dean raised his eyebrows.

"No – but it's still important to stay on your guard," the angel replied. "I just feel that your time would be better spent elsewhere."

"Are you worried about something?" Sam asked. "Why don't you want us involved here?"

"I'm not telling you not to become involved," Castiel replied. "I just feel that your time would be better spent doing something else." He paused, then continued, "This fairy was killed by another. You don't need to do anything here. But I will leave you alone for now. If you need to get in contact with me? Well... you know how how to do that." He disappeared without waiting for a reply.

"What do you think?" Sam asked after Castiel was gone.

Dean shrugged. "It's not like we have anything better to do. Saving the world just isn't possible without knowing more. So we might as well see what's going on here. We need to get the coroner's report." He walked to the door, but paused and looked behind him when Sam didn't move. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I guess." Sam walked over to his brother. "I'll see about getting the coroner's report from the doctor, if you want to go wait in the car."

"I'm not going to just go wait in the car, Sam. I'm not completely useless." Dean opened the door, and stepped out into the corridor. "Let's go."

* * *

><p><em>The woman lowered her head to glance back into the lake, and then pushed herself to her feet. She started walking in Philip's direction, but paused when one of the other women stepped in front of her.<em>

_Philip watched, but couldn't hear what the two women were saying. They didn't talk for long, though, and the first woman soon resumed walking._

_Philip immediately moved backwards, further into the trees; but the woman simply continued on her path, until both of them were out of sight of the others._

"_Well met,"_ _the woman said, smiling at Philip. "My name is Ryssa."_

"_I'm called Philip." Philip's eyes moved over Ryssa's body, noticing that her feet were bare – and and she was only wearing a simple white robe, with most of her arms bare. "Aren't you cold?" he asked._

_Ryssa shook her head. "Not yet. But soon it will be too cold for me and my sisters to come here. We'll have to find another lake to visit." She smiled a little. "You're lucky none of my sisters saw you."_

"_Why?"_

_Ryssa shrugged. "They don't like men. They don't like most people." She tilted her head slightly. "But I like meeting people – and when I saw you, I was curious. So I decided to come and talk to you – but I have to return soon."_

"_Well... would you like to walk with me before you have to leave?" Philip asked._

_Ryssa considered that for several moments, her head on one side. Then, at last, she nodded. "Yes. That would be nice."_


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

"So are we going to Stanford University?" Dean asked his brother, as they sat in the room at the Stanford Inn, eating some fast food. Dean had talked Sam into having something unhealthy, and he was kind of proud of the fact.

"I guess..." Sam replied, looking down briefly. "We probably have to get there sooner or later, huh? Might as well be sooner."

Dean eyed his brother for several moments, but didn't say anything. He could tell that Sam wasn't really that happy with the whole thing; his brother really didn't look like he wanted to talk about it. "We don't have to go yet if you're not feeling up to it."

"No – but I think it would be better if we went there now," Sam replied. "Or soon, anyway. Can't put it off forever, can I?" He looked up when there was a knock on the door, and frowned. "Dean, who knows we're here?"

"Only Bobby – but I doubt he'd be outside." Dean stood up, and walked over to the door, but didn't open it. "Yeah?" he called.

"It's housekeeping," came the reply. "May I come in to drop off some towels?"

"Uh..." Dean turned from the door to look at his brother. "We got anything incriminating in sight?" Even as he asked that – in a voice barely above a whisper – he noticed that there was a gun in plain view on the bed. "Sam!" he hissed, gesturing towards the gun.

"Oh, right." Sam grabbed the gun, and shoved it into one of the drawers. "All clear."

Dean turned back to the door and opened it, raising his eyebrows at the tall blonde woman standing just outside. A slow smile spread across his face as he gave her a quick once-over. "Hi there. You want to come in?"

"I just need to drop off some towels." But the woman smiled as well. "Of course, if you'd like, I can come in – but just for a little while. I do have work to do."

Dean could just about see Sam rolling his eyes behind his back, but Dean smirked and took a step back to allow the woman access into the room. "Feel free to disappear for, say, half an hour or so, Sammy."

The woman stepped into the room, closing the door softly behind her. "I need to speak to both of you anyway," she stated. "When I learned there were two hunters in town, I knew I had to come and see you." She smiled, showing teeth that were slightly pointed. "I'm Mab. You've probably heard of me."

Dean opened his mouth to say that the name was familiar – but he couldn't immediately place it. However, before he could speak, he saw Sam – out of the corner of his eye – come to stand next to him. His brother was carrying an iron poker in both hands, wielding it like a sword. "She's a fairy," Sam explained, in answer to Dean's glance. "They're weak to iron."

Mab hissed – just like a cat – taking a step backwards. "Come on. If I'd wanted to attack you, I would have done so rather than giving you my name."

Dean and Sam exchanged glances, but Sam didn't actually lower the poker. "What do you want?" Sam asked.

"I need your help." Mab grimaced a little, temporarily closing her mouth over her pointed teeth. "Believe me, if I had a choice, I wouldn't be working with humans, let alone hunters. As it turns out, though, you may be the only two who can help me. There's a rogue fairy who will cause the destruction of the world. I sent one of my people to stop her, but he was murdered by her bodyguard."

"Why do you want _our_ help?" Dean asked.

"Because humans can touch iron and we can't," Mab said, as if it were the most logical thing in the world.

"Don't trust her, Dean," Sam said in a low voice, before his brother could speak. "According to the stories about them, the fay can't be trusted. If she's here, she wants something from us; and that can't be good."

Mab glanced at Sam, narrowing her eyes a little. "You should brush up on your research, boy. The fay can't tell lies."

Dean looked at his brother. "Sam?"

Sam shook his head. "There's so much lore about the fay – I think the iron thing is the only part everything agrees on."

"Do we know any experts on fairies?" Dean grimaced a little. "_That's_ a question I never thought I'd have to ask."

"Well, Bobby might know something – but we could always try asking Cass," Sam replied, still holding the iron poker in front of him. Even though he was talking to Dean, Sam didn't take his eyes off Mab. "You need to give us a few minutes to talk about this, and find out any information we can."

Mab frowned, a brief flash of annoyance crossing her face. Then, she slowly nodded. "Very well. I suppose I can understand your caution. When you have made your decision, call my name three times." With those words, she simply disappeared.

Dean let out a breath he hadn't even realised he'd been holding, and turned to his brother. "So why do you know so much about fairies?"

Sam shrugged. "Before I went to Stanford, I made it a point to brush up on knowledge about _all_ possible supernatural creatures. That's why I knew about angels, even though both you and Dad said they could never exist." He actually smirked a little. "Turns out I was right about that. Anyway, after... Jessica... I started doing even more research; particularly after you went to hell."

"Just don't rub it in," Dean muttered, glancing at the spot where Mab had stood, before looking back at Sam. "So, what? We're gonna call Cass?"

Sam shrugged. "We could _try_ calling Gabriel – but I don't know if he'd hear us, or even come. We'd probably be better off speaking to Cass; though he _did_ warn us to stay away from this case..."

"If there's another apocalypse coming, though, we can't exactly stay out of it. We're already trying to stop Lucifer." Dean paused as a thought struck him. "Hey... maybe we can make a bargain with Mab. We help her with her problem, and she can help us against Lucifer."

Sam shook his head sharply. "Dean, we can't make bargains with these things. I know I suggested trying to make a deal with the Trickster, but this is different. At least Gabriel only went after those who deserved it – us being exceptions. The fay delight in having power over other people. If we end up being indebted to them, that's only gonna be a bad thing."

"Any worse than you letting Satan ride your ass? Cause at least this way, we'd both be alive." But Dean had to admit that his brother had a point. Look how well the past bargains made had gone. Dean couldn't regret trading his life for his brother's, and he guessed their Dad probably felt the same way. However, even knowing that he'd do the same again – despite what his time in hell had cost him – he knew that making a bargain with something else could only be a bad idea. "Okay, okay. You're right. But let's at least talk to Cass to get any information he has." Without waiting for a reply, he took out his cell phone – but then paused and glanced at Sam. "You still want to go to the university? Find that witness?" He was giving Sam an out. They didn't _have_ to go and speak to the witness – maybe they could get by just with information learned from Mab and Cass.

But Sam was shaking his head. "We need to get information from all possible sources. If you want to call Cass, we can find out anything he knows; and then tomorrow, we can go to the university and talk to the witness."

Dean grunted. "Your choice, Sammy." He dialled Castiel's number but frowned when it went to voicemail. "Hey, Sam? You ever had Cass _not_ pick up when you've tried calling?"

"I don't call him nearly as much as you do, Dean." Sam sat down on the bed, resting the poker next to him but still keeping his hand on it. He frowned. "He's not answering? I thought you and he were like bosom buddies or something."

Dean ignored Sam in favour of leaving a message on Castiel's phone. "Hey, Cass? We're kinda stuck right now. We need all the information you've got on fairies." He disconnected the call and looked at his brother. "I'm guessing he's busy with the whole searching for God thing." Dean couldn't help feeling a little concerned, though. Since Castiel had rebelled from heaven, trying to get hold of the angel had been successful every time. Maybe he was just really busy... but Dean was still concerned.

"So what do we do?" Sam asked. "Wait? Try to call Gabriel?"

"I'm not really sure I want to start talking to him," Dean replied. "Gotta admit, he's screwed us over more times than I can count. Also, do you _really_ think he wouldn't be able to find us if he wanted to help us?"

"I guess you're right..."

"Better believe it." Dean flopped onto one of the beds, smirking.

"Make sure you don't have any more dreams about vampire swans." Sam grinned.

"Bite me," Dean said as he rolled his eyes before closing them. It wasn't long before sleep closed them, letting sleep overtake him.

* * *

><p><em>Philip walked back to the lake, hoping that Ryssa would be there. He'd asked if she could return to the lake alone, but Ryssa had seemed a little uncertain about whether or not she would be able to do so.<em>

_It had been close to a moon since Philip had met Ryssa for the first time. She held his interest and captivated him far more than any other female in the village – but each time he'd attempted to raise the prospect of marriage, Ryssa had gone pale and asked that they speak of something else._

_Perhaps the best thing to do would be to ask to speak to her father. Philip hadn't yet met him, but he couldn't imagine any reason why the man wouldn't see him as a suitable suitor. After all, Philip had his own house – and he could certainly feed a wife as well as himself._

_As he saw Ryssa step into view next to the lake, Philip just watched her. It appeared that she was alone – but Philip was still a little hesitant about stepping out of the trees immediately. He remembered Ryssa's words about her sisters and didn't want to risk them seeing him._

_When Ryssa knelt beside the lake to trail her fingers in the water, though, Philip couldn't wait any longer. He moved towards her and smiled when she looked up at him. "You were able to come alone?"_

_Ryssa nodded slowly but looked down at the water again. "I know what your intentions are." She spoke in a low voice, devoid of any emotion._

_Philip felt the cold hand of fear on his back – but when he spoke, nothing of that came through in his voice. "If you know my intentions, do you have an answer for me?"_

_Ryssa stood up slowly and stepped nearer to him. She reached out with fingers that trembled slightly and took his hand. "I am here, am I not? Do you need me to answer with words that I will consent to be your wife?"_

_Philip smiled and reached out to draw her into his arms, trying not to notice the way her form shook within his embrace._


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

When Dean woke up, blinding pain sliced through his head. He groaned, pressing his hands to his forehead, and pushed himself up off the bed.

Sam glanced up from his laptop and frowned. "Dean?"

Dean ignored his brother, stumbling through to the washroom to be sick. He groaned, leaning over the toilet, wondering what was wrong with him. Could he have eaten something that made him sick? Yeah... because that so wouldn't give his brother extra ammunition to try and stop him from eating the nice, unhealthy food.

"Are you sick?" Sam asked from outside the door.

" I don't_ get_ sick." Dean straightened, wiping his hand across his mouth. He then stepped over to the sink to rinse his mouth out, brushing his teeth.

"Actually, there was that one time at Pastor Jim's..."

"Shut up," Dean grumbled. He walked over to the door and stepped out of the room, looking at his brother. "Don't worry about me, Sam," he said, forcing the slight annoyance out of his voice. He had to deal with Sam's concern about what was going on here – but that was all part of them hunting together again.

Dean had tried to force them to separate, but he had to admit that maybe it was better they were together. If Dean stuck with his brother, maybe he'd be able to stop the future he'd seen from coming to pass.

"Dean, I'm_ serious."_

"I'm_ fine_, Sammy. Guess I just had another bad dream and it made me feel sick." Not that Dean could remember very much about this new dream. There hadn't been any swans this time, but he could vaguely remember there being a young woman standing by a lake.

"Dean, I've seen you after your worst dreams. They've_ never_ made you throw up before." Sam hesitated briefly. "You know, we don't to go to the university today."

"Yeah, well, maybe how I'm feeling right now is connected to this case." Even as he spoke, though, Dean realised he was beginning to feel better. "I need some coffee. Then we can go to the university."

Sam didn't seem to be too convinced, but he nodded and stepped away from the washroom door. "Are you going to try calling Cass again?"

"Nah. I think I'm going to wait till after we've talked to the witness. You got a name?" Dean asked.

"Gail Lyon," Sam answered. "I called the university while you were asleep; said my brother was a policeman investigating the death." He stepped over to grab his duffel bag, hefting it onto his shoulder. "I figured it was better to say you were the cop rather than me. There are professors at the university who might still remember me."

Dean shrugged, heading towards the door. "It's been over four years, dude. They're not likely to remember you _that_ well." He walked to the door and opened it, stepping out of the motel room and turning to look at his brother. "You coming or what?"

* * *

><p>As he drove along the campus, Dean took advantage of getting a good look at the grounds – one he hadn't managed before, since the last time he'd been at Stanford, it had been the middle of the night and he was dragging his brother out of the fire. He had to admit, it wasn't bad – if someone liked the country. "You definitely picked a place with a great view."<p>

"I heard the program was good." Sam shrugged. "Anyway, according to the secretary, Gail lives in one of the Lyman Residences."

"Uh-uh..." Dean looked around. "And where's that?"

"Westside neighbourhood." Sam nodded towards the sign. "It's number 121." He watched the buildings, his face unreadable.

"Uh-uh." Dean also watched the buildings and – spotting the right number – he parked the Impala just outside. He then reached across to open the glove compartment, taking out one of their fake IDs. He got out of the Impala, walked to the apartments and glanced at Sam. "You know which number she's at?" He gestured towards the call buttons.

"Yeah – number twelve," Sam replied and pressed the button for that apartment, looking at Dean. "You should probably use your real name."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Dude, seriously? If someone calls me in, it's gonna come up with me supposed to be dead... or wanted for murder. At this point, I'm not sure which story has more credibility. It would be easier to pretend that you have another brother," he muttered.

"Dean, this is kind of a risk we run every time we use those fake IDs. It makes more sense for you to use your real name right now, okay? Especially since I was a student here. They're far more likely to check my application form than call the police." Sam immediately shut up as the intercom crackled.

"Hello?" a distinctly female voice asked.

Dean looked at his brother, but leaned forward to speak into the intercom. "Hello. This is Detective Dean Winchester. Are you Gail Lyon?"

"No. I'm her roommate – Kaede Akita," the woman's voice replied. "Gail's at her course right now, but she shouldn't be too long. Would you like to come in and wait for her?"

Dean exchanged glances with Sam, who shrugged. "That would be helpful, thanks," Dean said.

"Just come on up the stairs."

There was a click that signified the door being unlocked and Dean pushed open the door, stepping into the building. He glanced briefly at the doors on the ground floor and then started up the stairs, his footsteps echoing on the metal surfaces, knowing Sam would follow him.

The door to apartment number twelve was already open and a Japanese woman with long black hair stood there. "Detective Winchester?" She looked between Dean and Sam. "Can I see some ID?"

Dean took out the ID, flashing it quickly before putting it away again so that the woman couldn't see the name on it. "Yeah, that's me," he said, flashing a smile. "This is my brother, Sam. He studied law here a few years ago. Can we come in and wait for your roommate?"

"Of course." Kaede stood back from the door to allow them access, closing it again once the brothers were inside. "You can go sit in the living room," she said. "Would you like a drink? Tea? Coffee? Beer?"

Dean was seriously tempted to ask for a beer, but knew that would draw too much attention. "I'll take a coffee, thanks. Cappuccino, if you've got any." He stepped through to the living room, sitting down on the couch and spreading himself out.

"I'm good, thanks." Sam smiled at Kaede and then stepped through to sit down next to Dean, giving him a _look_.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Don't put your feet on the coffee table, Dean."

"Oh, is psychic boy making an appearance again?" Dean smirked – and then sat up straight as Kaede came into the room, passing him a cup. "That was fast."

"I already put the kettle on to make myself one." Kaede sat on one of the armchairs, sipping her own cappuccino. "Is this about what Gail saw? The murder? She already talked to the police about it..."

"Yeah, but we had some more evidence come up," Dean replied. "So I just need to check some of the facts with your friend." He paused briefly. "Do you know anything about the murder?" He knew they were roommates, but if they were friends as well, maybe Kaede knew something.

Kaede shrugged. "Only a little. I think Gail's sort of scared, you know? Since she's a witness, she's worried that the person who killed that guy will come after her. She even hired a bodyguard; and she's keeping her mouth shut apart from talking to the police. I guess if you were worried, though, you'd put protection on her... right?"

"Yeah, sure." Dean smiled. "So what are you studying?" He ignored the fact that he could feel Sam watching him. He might as well make conversation until Gail arrived. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. Well... he could always try and figure out what was wrong with him; but that really wasn't something he wanted to dwell on right now.

"Um..." Kaede looked a little surprised at the question but shrugged. "I'm studying medicine. I want to be a doctor."

"That's a good thing to do," Sam said with a smile. "I... studied law here, but things kind of changed for me."

Kaede nodded and then glanced up as the apartment door was opened.

A tall, red-headed woman came into the apartment, flopping down on the second armchair with her bag falling to the floor in front of her. "That was _so_ not fun." She then looked at Sam and Dean, as if seeing them for the first time, smiling. "Hey. Is that your car parked outside the building? The Impala? Cause it's a cool ride."

"Thanks." Dean smiled and leaned forward slightly, hands on his knees. "So I'm Detective Dean Winchester. I know you've already answered some questions from one of the other policemen, but some new evidence has come up and I need to do some fact checking."

"What new evidence did you find?" Gail asked.

"I can't discuss that right now," Dean replied easily. "I just need to know everything that happened; even if it seems irrelevant or strange." He was tempted to glance towards the door and look at the bodyguard Gail had hired, but managed to resist the temptation, keeping his attention on the two women.

Gail glanced briefly at Kaede before looking at Dean again. "You must already know that I was so scared, I was hallucinating like crazy. I _know_ the papers ran an article about what I said I saw. Several people have mentioned it."

"You thought you saw wings?" Dean asked when Gail fell silent.

Gail nodded slowly. "I guess I must have had a little more to drink than I realised or something."

"Or someone spiked your drink," Kaede suggested.

"Okay." Dean didn't really want to dwell on the wings thing, since he and Sam had already figured out that they were dealing with fairies. "Did you remember anything else? Why don't you walk me through exactly what happened?"

Gail looked a little reluctant at first, but slowly nodded. "I guess I can do that – but I _did_ already go through all this with the other man."

"I know. But I'd rather hear it in your own words." Dean gave what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

"Well... I had class during the day; and then I went out to a bar with Kaede." Gail glanced at her roommate and then back at Dean. "And Kaede left early, but I decided to stay. However, when I left, I heard this commotion down the street."

"So you went to look alone?" Dean narrowed his eyes.

"Dude, chill," Sam muttered. "Don't worry about him," he said to Gail. "He doesn't spend a lot of time around people."

"Okay..." Gail looked between them both, hesitating a moment before continuing speaking. "I didn't go and check it out. But I didn't leave either. It's not like I knew what was going to happen." She paused, looking down at her hands. "Anyway... I saw this kind of... glint, I guess. And there was a ringing sound – you know, like a bell would make? Only a lot sharper. And then it got closer... and I saw him."

Dean frowned, picking up on that. "Him? You only saw one? What about the guy who killed him?"

"I know there _was_ another person, but all I could see was a shadow," Gail replied. "I couldn't make out any details of the other man."

"Could it have been a woman?" Kaede broke in.

"It's something to consider," Dean allowed. Could it have been Mab? He didn't _remember_ seeing a sword on her when she'd come to call; but that didn't necessarily mean she couldn't have done it. "What happened then?" he asked Gail.

"I remember that the other person moved incredibly quickly," Gail replied. "I couldn't even see him – or her – move; but then the other guy suddenly got all these... _slash_ wounds on him. And they appeared _really_ quickly. I mean, like a dozen cuts in a matter of seconds. And then he was dead and the other person was just... gone."

Dean exchanged glances with Sam. It looked like they'd found out how the man had received so many wounds and none defensive. "Is there anything else?" He hadn't really heard anything more than what he and his brother knew already.

Gail shook her head. "Not really." She glanced at Kaede, who was curled up on the chair with her eyes closed. "Did you take your medication yet?"

"I'm fine," Kaede replied, her eyes still closed. "You know it just makes me sick."

"Okay – so I think we've got everything," Dean said, standing up. "Thank you for your time." He looked at Sam, then walked towards the door; glancing briefly at the bodyguard, but not paying too much attention to him. "You coming, Sam?" he addressed his brother.

"Yeah." Sam stood up, writing his cell phone number down on a piece of paper and handing it to Gail. "If you think of anything else, just give us a call."

"Of course," Gail replied.

Sam nodded and followed Dean out of the apartment.

* * *

><p>Dean stood by the Impala, glancing back over his shoulder at the building. He looked back at his brother to find Sam watching him. "What?"<p>

"I don't know." Sam shrugged. "Just thinking, I guess. Did you ever even _consider_ the possibility that we would be dealing with fairies? That they'd even exist?"

"It was always you who believed in things like that, Sammy," Dean pointed out. "I never did." He shook his head. "They're not anything like the creatures in stories, though, Cass said. We've seen Mab. We saw that dead other fairy. They're probably as vicious as most of the other things we've hunted."

"I guess..." Sam looked past Dean and then frowned, taking a step back.

Dean moved back even before he turned, narrowing his eyes as he saw Gail's bodyguard standing there. It took him a moment or two to realise just what had made Sam react.

Huge, feathered wings came out of the man's back, patterned in the same way as butterfly wings. He wielded a sword in both hands and slowly approached Sam and Dean, swinging his sword up and above his head.

"Dammit!" Dean immediately scrambled back, automatically placing himself protectively in front of his brother. He pulled his gun out – thank goodness he always made sure to carry _some_ kind of weapon now – and fired.

The fairy paused, eyes narrowing a little. He looked down at the bloodied hole in his shirt and then back at Dean. His wings flapped once; and then he leaped at Dean, swinging his sword up and round. The next moment, though, he stumbled away from Dean; almost as if something had pulled back hard on his wings. He spun to face the new threat – and Dean heard the disbelief in his voice as he spoke. "Loki?"

Dean was dimly aware of Sam coming over to stand next to him, carrying one of the iron pokers they'd taken to including with the weapons. Dean didn't take his eyes off the fairy, though. He couldn't see who the fairy was looking at, but doubted it boded well for them.

Sam stiffened slightly next to his brother and, when Dean looked at him, whispered, "Isn't Loki a trickster god?"

Dean blinked, looking a little surprised, opening his mouth. Before he could say anything, though, Gabriel stepped out from in front of the fairy. He slowly shook his head as he looked at the two Winchesters. "Looks like I can't leave you two alone for long."

"What are you doing here?" Dean demanded, a sharp edge to his voice.

"What did you do to him?" Sam indicated the fairy, who hadn't moved and appeared to be frozen in place.

"Whoa; one question at a time." Gabriel held up his hands. "I've just frozen time temporarily so we can chat," he said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "And come on. The fairies are taking an interest in you? I just want to make sure nothing interferes with the grand plan." He smirked – but there was very little humour in it. "I know Mab came to see you." He shrugged, a more amused look coming over his face. "Gotta say... the fairies definitely are different when it comes to matters of lurve." He drew the last word out with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"That's not answering my question," Dean said, distinctly unamused.

"Tell me, Dean, have you been having any strange dreams lately?" Gabriel asked.

"What does that have to do with anything? And how do you know about that anyway?" Dean demanded.

"If you _really_ want me to answer that, Dean, I'm going to reply with a suitably sarcastic response." Gabriel raised his eyebrows.

"Uh, yeah... good point." Dean frowned at Gabriel. "Anyway, what do my dreams have to do with anything? They're just dreams."

Gabriel was shaking his head. "You've never heard of reincarnation?"

"Like the whole belief that a person keeps coming back as a different thing, depending on what they've done in their life?" Sam asked. "Or that whole wheel of life thing?"

Gabriel snorted softly. "Newsflash for you, Sammyboy. Reincarnation tends to be very different to what you've probably learned. Most people aren't reincarnated – and there are very specific reasons when they are. Very often, it's to learn an important lesson. In your brother's case, he brought the wrath of the fairy down on his head."

Dean blinked. "I... what?"

Gabriel smiled briefly, but it had a hard edge to it. "Classic boy meets girl story. But it was really woodcutter meets fairy girl – during the witch burning times." The angel stepped closer to Dean, reaching a hand out to him.

Dean immediately took a step back. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to make you remember, Deano. Not just for the sake of it – but I'm sure you want to know what you're dealing with." When Dean just looked at him, the angel shrugged. "You want all the facts, right?"

"How do I know you're on our side?" Dean kept his distance, eyeing Gabriel warily. "Last time we met, you tried to kill us."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "If I'd tried to kill you, you'd be dead already. Or do you really want to say no to knowledge that could help you?"

Dean stared at Gabriel for several moments and then gave a sharp, jerky nod. "Go on then. Work your mojo." He looked at Sam. "While _this_ is happening, make sure you keep an eye on my body. Or whatever." He really wasn't sure this was the best idea, but Gabriel's words made sense. He slowly stepped towards the angel. "If you double-cross us, I'm sure Sam can find some holy oil."

Gabriel didn't reply, just reached out and placed two fingers against Dean's forehead.

Dean's whole body arched and then he crumpled.


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

_After Philip and Ryssa had been married in a simple ceremony, Philip couldn't imagine a more perfect life. After two moons, though, he was beginning to realise that something was wrong._

_For the past several nights, Philip had woken to find that Ryssa had left their bed. Each and every time, he'd searched for her in vain – only to have her return in the morning, refusing to speak about where she'd been. He had tried to ask her about where she was going, but she'd grown upset by his increasing questions – and Philip had finally realised he wasn't going to get any answers out of his wife._

_That night, Philip lay next to Ryssa, their hands entwined together. He wished he could let himself be contented with his wife and their life together, but he didn't know why Ryssa kept leaving their home during the night. He couldn't stop thinking about all of the possible reasons for Ryssa to keep going away._

_Philip closed his eyes after Ryssa placed a gentle kiss against his lips. He lay still, letting his breathing grow deep and even – but didn't allow himself to fall asleep._

_Eventually, Philip heard the sound of Ryssa stirring. He kept his eyes closed as he heard her quietly get off the bed and didn't open them until he heard her softly closing the door. He then sat up before climbing off the bed and walking over towards the door. After a brief hesitation, he opened it and stepped out just as he saw Ryssa leaving the house, carrying something in her arms that appeared to be covered with feathers._

_Philip waited briefly and then slipped out of the house in time to see Ryssa walking towards the forest. He frowned and walked after her, wondering why she was going to the forest. Was she going to visit her sisters? That, at least, would be something he could understand... but then, why hadn't she told him that?_

_As they entered the forest, Ryssa glanced back over her shoulder more than once. Each time, Philip ducked round behind a tree, staying out of view until she turned back to follow her path once more. It would be a simple thing to step into her view, but if he did that, Philip knew he would probably never find out what Ryssa was doing._

_The moon shone above the trees, giving Philip just about enough light to see by. Ryssa seemed to have no problems seeing in the dark; and it didn't take long for Philip to realise they were walking towards the lake._

_When Ryssa stepped through the trees onto the shore of the lake, Philip stayed back, watching as her six sisters approached. It was then that Ryssa spread out what she was carrying in her arms. Philip could only stare as she slipped the feathered cloak over her shoulders and drew the hood up over her head. He blinked and – where Ryssa had once stood – there was now a swan._

* * *

><p>Dean hadn't even realised he'd pulled back from Gabriel until he saw the angel's hand fall. For several moments, the two just stared at each other; and then Gabriel tilted his head slightly. "Why did you pull away?"<p>

Dean glanced at his brother, who frowned but didn't say anything. He then looked back at Gabriel. "I don't want to see the rest." As if the newest memory had triggered something, Dean was also remembering other things that had happened during his time as Philip. Suspicion had been rife in the town. No formal accusations had been made – but looking back at those memories now, Dean knew it would have only taken a small spark to trigger an entire witch hunt.

"You're going to have to face those memories sooner or later," Gabriel told Dean.

Dean gave a sharp nod. "Yeah. But I'm gonna face them on my own terms, in my own time." He turned to Sam once more. "So what are we going to do now? Can't exactly ask Mr. Knife Happy there about what Mab was talking about."

"Uh, you realise you've got me right here? I can tell you what I know," Gabriel said.

Sam shrugged. "We could use any information you can give us on Mab. She said that she needs out help; that there's a rogue fairy who'll destroy the world. It sounds like she sent the dead fairy after this rogue, but he was killed by a bodyguard of some sort." Sam's eyes moved to the still-frozen fairy and he frowned. "Maybe he knows something... we should ask him some questions."

"I think you should leave him well enough alone for now. He thinks you're enemies and probably won't listen to reason right now." Gabriel snapped his fingers and the three of them appeared in the motel room.

Dean stumbled, sitting down heavily on one of the beds. "Dude... _Warn_ me when you're gonna do that."

"What's the matter, Deano? Can't handle a little teleportation spell?" Gabriel snickered.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I've taken a trip via Angel Express before – courtesy of Cass. Believe me, that's so not an experience I like repeating. Anyway, you said you'd tell us what you know about the fairies, so spill."

"Fairies can't lie," Gabriel said, shrugging slightly. "But they _can_ twist the truth and withhold information for their own ends. So you should be hesitant about trusting anything she says."

"I don't like trusting _anyone_," Dean replied, knowing he was seriously understating it. He would have tried to stand up, but he wasn't sure his legs would support him. "We need to speak to Mab and find out what she knows and if this really _does_ have anything to do with us."

"Would you help us question her?" Sam asked the angel.

"I _do_ have other things to do than play babysitter to the two guys who opened Pandora's Box." Gabriel then shrugged. "But, gotta say, I'm pretty curious about how the two of you managed to get the attention of one of the fairy queens."

Dean blinked. "Wait, so Mab isn't just a normal fairy? We're dealing with one of the queens? And how many queens are there anyway?"

"I think there's just Titania," Sam said. "According to the legends, she's supposed to be queen of the slightly less harmful fairies – though even they're dangerous and not to be trusted."

"So since they can't lie, it sounds like Mab was telling the truth about a rogue fairy going to cause the destruction of the world." Dean frowned. "Great. That's all we need right now. Don't we have enough to deal with, seeing as we've got Lucifer looking to destroy mankind?"

Gabriel snorted softly and sat down on the other bed. "Lucifer being out of the cage doesn't mean the rest of the bad things are gonna go away."

Sam frowned as a thought seemed to occur to him. "Would Lucifer become allies with the rogue fairy? Since it sounds like they have similar goals."

"Believe me, Lucifer would _never_ work with anything other than demons. He hates humans, but he doesn't really tolerate anything else." Gabriel shrugged. "And now, thanks to you two, my brothers are going to fight – and one of them is going to die. It doesn't matter who wins. Either way, one of them dies." He changed the subject. "Did Mab tell you how to summon her again?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah. We're supposed to call her name three times. Guessing that's the magic number."

"What about Dean's memories of his past life?" San asked. "Where do they fit into all of this?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I don't have all the answers. I haven't really spent that much time with the fairies."

"Why? Seems like you'd get along extremely well with them," Dean said, smirking a little.

"Uh, Trickster, remember? I was more interested in bringing the high and mighty down a peg or two. I know about fairies, of course, but we were never best buds."

"So what exactly has happened in those dreams?" Sam asked his brother.

Dean shrugged. "I'm guessing it's in medieval times or something – at least, I know it was during the witch trials. I have all of these other memories as well, of things not in the dreams. The whole vibe in town was so tense, it would have only taken a spark to make things explode." He hesitated briefly, but knew Sam needed to know anything that might help. "In the last dream, vision, whatever, Philip – the guy I was – followed his wife to the lake where they met for the first time and saw her turn into a swan."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Dude... you were married to a swan maiden?"

"_I _wasn't married to a swan maiden," Dean replied. "Philip and I aren't the same person."

"Actually, the only differences between the two of you come from outside sources," Gabriel said. "The two of you started out the same – like reflections of each other."

Dean wanted to deny it, but he couldn't find the words. It hadn't been too long ago that he'd seen all supernatural things as evil – and even now, his first inclination was normally to shoot first. In one corner of his mind – where he refused to look too closely – there were flames that had nothing to do with hell. When he dreamed next, Dean knew he would have to face the fire.

Sam waited, but when Dean didn't say anything, he spoke. "Should we call Mab?"

"Unless you've got something better to do in mind, might as well," Dean replied, shrugging slightly. "You want to grab an iron poker or something?"

"You've got something way better than iron here," Gabriel said, standing up. "You've got me."

Dean exchanged glances with his brother and shrugged again. "Okay, then. Do you want to call her, or do you want me to?"

"I'll call her. This brings back memories," Sam added. "Let's hope she won't appear in a mirror and make my eyes bleed." He cleared his throat. "Mab. Mab." He hesitated briefly before speaking her name for the third time. "Mab."

"Did you decide what to do?" Mab spoke from the doorway.

Dean tried not to jump at Mab's sudden appearance as he turned to face the fairy. "Not exactly," he replied. "We need information. From you."

Mab narrowed her eyes. "I don't have time to keep coming back and forth. I have told you about the rogue fairy who will destroy the world. What more information do you need?" She glanced at Sam and then her eyes went to Gabriel and she frowned. "I know you... you're not human. What are you doing here, Loki?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I have a... vested interest in this world surviving – for now, anyway. You're saying that someone's going to destroy the world. I want to know who." He paused briefly. "Will killing her bring about the destruction of the world?"

"No," Mab replied, her expression unchanging. "But you have to stop her. She must die."

"Who is she?" Sam asked.

Mab shook her head. "I am forbidden to say certain things. You must discover her identity yourselves, since neither of you are a fairy." She glanced again at Gabriel. "_Any_ of you."

"Is she Ryssa?" Dean asked.

Mab looked at him. "Ryssa is dead."

Dean shrugged. "So's Philip – and yet I'm standing here." Mab didn't have to answer. Why else would he have been having those dreams? "Is she pissed off at me?"

"What do you think?" Mab returned.

Dean just looked at Mab. He couldn't see any reason to disbelieve her. The dreams and memories hadn't really affected him; he was used to the supernatural. But if the person who Ryssa was now remembered _everything_...

It would be enough to drive her insane.

Mab waited and then raised her eyebrows. "Is that everything?"

"Yeah... I guess." Dean couldn't think of any more questions they needed to ask Mab. He could feel Sam's eyes on him, but he didn't look at his brother, even when Mab disappeared again after a slight roll of her eyes.

Gabriel cleared his throat and, when Dean looked at him, said, "I'm going to disappear for a while. If you need me before tomorrow, just call my name." Without waiting for a reply, he snapped his fingers and simply vanished.

"It wasn't your fault this happened, Dean," Sam said quietly.

"I'm not blaming myself." Dean glanced at Sam, but didn't make eye contact with him.

"Okay." Sam must have guessed that Dean really didn't want to talk about it, because he changed the subject. "I'm gonna go get some food. You want a cheeseburger or something?"

"Yeah." Dean flopped down on his bed, letting his eyes close. "Should probably try calling Cass again..."

Sam probably responded, but Dean didn't hear it.

* * *

><p><em>Philip didn't sleep after returning from the forest. He kept his eyes closed, though, and pretended sleep when Ryssa returned with dawn's light. It was hard not to cringe when he felt her lips gently touch his cheek.<em>

_As soon as Ryssa's breathing evened out, Philip got out of bed and started quietly searching the house. It didn't take him long to find Ryssa's swan skin, folded neatly into a chest that wasn't even locked._

_Philip didn't _want_ to believe that his wife was a witch, but what else could he think? The witch-finders had made it quite clear that anyone who could cast spells was in league with Satan and would eventually cause the village to die._

_Philip knew what he had to do._

* * *

><p><em>It had been easier than Philip had thought to tell his story to the witch-finders. Now, he stood outside his house, watching as two soldiers entered the building. A few moments later, they came out, dragging a struggling Ryssa between them.<em>

"_Philip?" Ryssa reached out to him, but her arm was pulled hard behind her back. As she was dragged past Philip, she suddenly seemed to see what the soldiers were taking her to – a tall stake, surrounded by wood at the bottom. "No! NO!" She screamed and began struggling even more._

_Philip looked away, glancing down instead of at the crowd around him. Guilt flared, clutching his heart in a tight fist – but he didn't move, even as Ryssa was tied to the stake, her wrists tied painfully behind the wood._

_One of the witch-finders stepped forward in front of Ryssa, holding her swan skin in one hand and a burning stick in the other. When he spoke, his voice rang out loud and clear. "I know something about your kind, witch. You claim to be innocent of the crimes you stand accused of. With this – the source of your power – I will prove that you are a witch! Of course, if you are innocent, then you have nothing to fear." He touched the burning branch to the swan skin, setting it on fire._

_Ryssa arched her head back and screamed as flames licked over her body. The heat was so intense, Philip had to shield his eyes. The stench of burning flesh slapped full-force into his nose – but it didn't last for long, since Ryssa's body was reduced to ash far quicker than it should have been._

_All Philip could do was stare, his heart aching. The burning of the swan skin might have been proof that she was a witch, but Philip was now wondering if he'd made a terrible mistake. Ryssa was dead... and nothing was going to change that._

_Philip heard gurgling screams from behind him. He turned in time to see the people from his village collapsing, blood pouring from wounds in their necks and chests. When he spun back round, it was to see one of Ryssa's sisters pulling a blade from the witch-finder's body. The man collapsed, the burning stick rolling from his hand and setting fire to Philip's house._

_Philip backed away as the woman approached him. As she stepped nearer, his eyes were drawn to a mark on her neck – an image of a rose, choked by thorns. Then, her blade sliced through his chest and Philip knew no more._


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

Dean jerked awake and found himself looking up into Castiel's eyes. "Jeez, Cass! Personal space, remember?" he said, trying not to show just how relieved he was to see the angel. "Where have you been anyway?"

"I have been trying to take care of some things," the angel replied. "Your brother called me when he couldn't wake you up." Castiel finally moved backwards.

Dean pushed himself into a sitting position, lightly touching his chest, remembering the pain of being stabbed in the dream. He looked past Castiel to Sam, whose eyes were narrowed in worry. "How long was I out for?"

"Long enough for the food to start getting cold." Sam stepped over to the bed. "When I got here, you were moving around in your sleep. That's not normal – and neither is you not waking up the moment someone so much as touches you. Did you have one of those dreams again, Dean? What happened?"

Dean was silent for a few moments, not sure he really wanted to go into too many details about the latest dream. "I killed her."

Sam blinked. "What? Your wife? Or, well, Philip's?"

Dean nodded. "Told the witch-finders she could turn into a swan and gave them the skin she used. They tied her to a stake and burned the swan skin... set her on fire too." He spoke flatly, looking at the wall instead of his brother or Castiel. "And then her sisters went crazy and killed everyone in the village."

Castiel frowned slightly. "I don't understand... What is going on?"

Sam looked at the angel. "Dean's been having dreams of past lives. It seems they're connected to the case we're currently working on."

"And what case would that be?" Castiel asked.

"We still don't know all of the details..." Sam began.

"We know enough," Dean interrupted, his voice harsher than he'd intended. "Lucifer's not the only one who wants everyone dead." He clenched his fists tightly on the blankets, knowing that if he clenched them on bare skin, he'd be drawing blood. "She's gone dark side and we're gonna waste her."

"Dean..." Sam said quietly.

Dean focused on his brother. "What? You heard Mab. And you know what Gabriel said. This isn't any different to any of the other creatures we've hunted."

"Dean... She's human now, isn't she?" Sam pointed out. "And connected to you... We can't just kill her without getting answers first."

Dean shrugged. "If we leave it too long, we'll be too late."

Castiel stood and walked to the window, looking out of it. When he spoke, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. "I told you not to get involved."

"Didn't exactly have a choice, Cass," Dean replied. "Seems like something's forcing me to remember. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" If anyone was going to know about these visions, surely it would be an angel.

But Castiel was shaking his head as he turned back to Dean. "If an angel is responsible for this, I don't know about it."

Dean sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "Figures. Anyway, instead of getting annoyed about us not doing what you said, why don't you help us out here? Gabriel's helping us out as well, but..." Dean's voice trailed off, as he wasn't quite sure how to put what he felt into words. That he trusted Castiel far more than he did Gabriel – or even anyone, apart from his own brother.

"I understand," Castiel said quietly. "But it might be better to follow Sam's advice in this, Dean. Perhaps Gabriel does know more about fairies than I do – but even if they cannot lie, they can misdirect you in other ways."

Dean hesitated, but finally nodded. "Fine. I guess we can capture her or something. Of course, it would help if we knew who she was."

"I'm pretty sure I can help with that." Gabriel spoke from the window. He smirked, raising an eyebrow at Castiel. "Hello, brother. You joining the whole fairy crusade?"

"I'm surprised you're getting involved in this, Gabriel," Castiel said. "You cannot stay out of the war if you're running around helping the two the other angels want more than anything."

Gabriel shrugged. "Guess I'm not running and hiding anymore. And I don't really want to talk about it, Cassy-boy." He turned his attention to Sam and Dean. "Mab might not be able to tell us anything, but we might be able to get more information out of her sister."

"You're suggesting we talk to Titania?" Sam asked. "Will that even work?"

Gabriel shrugged. "They might be sisters, but that doesn't mean they get along. Titania might know more – or at least be willing to give us some information."

"So where is she?" Dean asked. "Do we need to go through a fairy ring?" His tone was edged with sarcasm, even though he figured anything could be possible.

"Nah. We have to go under a lake," Gabriel said.

Sam blinked. "Uh... you do know Dean and I can't breathe underwater, right? It might be all right for you and Cass, but Dean and I simply can't hold our breath for that long."

"It's not _actually_ underwater," Gabriel explained. "We just have to pass through the water to get to Titania's realm. You don't even have to get wet." He looked at Castiel. "You _do_ still know how to do that, right?"

Castiel frowned. "Of course I do. But are you sure that this is a good idea? I doubt very much that Titania will just give up any information, even if she doesn't want the Earth to be destroyed."

"Don't you know, Cass?" Gabriel replied. "Nothing worth having is free."

"Can we just get this over with?" Dean asked, not bothering to even try to hide his impatience. When Gabriel reached out to him, though, Dean immediately flinched back. "No. No way. We're driving or walking, not taking Angel Express."

"You're such a spoilsport, Deano." Gabriel smirked, but there was a serious glint in his eyes. "It's not that simple. Talking to Titania hinges on her not knowing that we're approaching. The fairies would scent you and your brother a mile off if you walked or drove there and would have time to close off the portal inside the lake. If you want to get this information out of Titania, we're gonna need to go via the 'Angel Express'."

Dean sighed, really not wanting to do this, but realised he didn't have a choice. He gave Gabriel a sharp nod. "Fine. But if I get any side effects, I'm holding you personally responsible."

"Oh, I'm _so_ scared." Gabriel put two fingers to Dean's forehead, tilting his head slightly when Dean tensed up. "Relax. If I wanted to hurt you, I could have done it plenty of times already."

"You did. You killed me over and over again at the Mystery Spot; not to mention getting me shot in TV land." Out of the corner of his eye, Dean noticed Castiel next to Sam – but both his brother and the other angel were watching him and Gabriel.

"Yeah, but Sammy boy treated you," Gabriel replied. "And don't be such a baby about the Mystery Spot. It's not like you remember any of it anyway." He pressed slightly harder on Dean's forehead, lifting his other hand. "You ready to meet the other fairy queen?" Without waiting for a reply, he snapped his fingers.

* * *

><p>The next thing Dean knew, he was inside a lake, being dragged down by Gabriel. For a few moments, he tried to pull himself away – before realising that he could breathe. Everything around him held a shimmery light. He could see Sam with Castiel, but it was like he was still seeing everything through water, despite being able to breathe and not being wet.<p>

The bottom of the lake was rushing up to meet Dean and he felt a momentary panic. Then, there was a blinding flash of blue light and he was suddenly falling, landing on a marble floor. "Oww..." he muttered, pushing himself up and glaring at Gabriel, who looked unrepentant. "You didn't have to drop me."

"Must have let go of you a little early. My bad. Sorry." Gabriel shrugged.

"Dean," Sam said quietly, walking over to stand next to his brother. "Look around."

Dean turned his attention to the surrounding area, realising they were inside what appeared to be a marble palace. The four of them were standing on a long crimson carpet that made Dean think of blood and there were tall pillars either side of them. At the far end of the corridor, a woman sat on a tall chair that appeared to be made out of grass, leaves and twigs. There were other fairies standing around the throne and all of them were looking in the direction of Dean and Sam and the two angels.

"Don't agree to anything, no matter how harmless it might seem," Gabriel instructed in a low voice. "Making bargains is very dangerous; and if it comes to it, let me do the talking. Also, make sure you don't eat or drink anything. Those stories about humans disappearing for centuries and coming back the same age, or only gone for a day and aged completely? Those stories have basis in fact." Gabriel stepped in front of the others, leading the way towards the throne.

Dean followed, Sam next to him and Castiel bringing up the rear. As they grew nearer to the woman on the throne, Dean noticed that she was small and rather fragile looking, her long black hair in a thick braid down her back. Her face was pale and appeared to be covered with a fine sheen of sweat, her eyes far too bright as she studied them. "Why have you come here?" Despite her weakened appearance, her voice was clear. Her gaze went to Dean and she frowned, leaning forward slightly with her chin in one hand. "You have been touched by one of the fairies."

"He married one of the swan maidens in a previous life," Gabriel said dismissively. "That's not really important so much as the fact that she's going to destroy the world – according to your sister Mab."

Titania's face didn't change much, other than a slight narrowing of her eyes. She watched them closely. "And why should I help you?"

"Your sister doesn't want her to destroy the world," Dean said. "I can't imagine you want it."

"What makes you think that I care anything for the world?" Titania replied. "I am hardly going to give you any information for free." Even though she didn't look at them, several fairies moved closer to her, surrounding her protectively.

"We could trade," Sam offered.

Titania laughed, but there was no humour in the sound."Trade what? You have nothing I desire. Nothing I need."

"Are you sure about that?" It was Gabriel who spoke, his voice quiet.

Titania's attention went to Gabriel and, after a few moments, she spoke. "There is something I desire." She paused, breaking off to cough violently into her sleeve. Once she was done, she turned her arm inwards towards her body – but not before Dean saw the blood staining her dress.

"You want to be healed?" Dean asked.

"Titania is closer to nature than her sister." Castiel spoke for the first time. "Her illness comes from no human ailment, but rather, from the suffering and death of the world."

Titania inclined her head in a slight nod, but her eyes remained fixed on Gabriel. "I know you. Not as Loki the Trickster, but I know who you really are." She paused briefly. "I will give you the knowledge I have of Ryssa as human. In return, I demand your word that you will free Mist once you leave here."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, but showed no emotion otherwise. "No."

Dean exchanged glances with his brother, mouthing, 'Mist?' When Sam merely shrugged, Dean looked at both Titania and Gabriel. "Who's Mist?"

"Winter fairy. She caused the ice age. Would have done worse if I hadn't trapped her inside a block of ice." Gabriel kept his eyes on Titania. "If she's freed, it'll destroy the world just as much as whatever Ryssa's going to do."

Titania's face didn't change. "Then I won't pass my knowledge onto you."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes even further, but he said nothing.

Sam stepped closer to Gabriel and cleared his throat. When the angel looked at him, he spoke in a low voice. "Look. Whatever went on with you and Mist, why would Titania tell you to do something that would cause what we're trying to avoid?"

"Just make the damn promise," Dean cut in.

When Gabriel still didn't look convinced, Castiel moved towards him. "You could always keep her under control until you know she's not going to do anything."

"Fine." Gabriel didn't look too pleased, but focused again on Titania. "I'll let her out once you tell them what you know about Ryssa."

"_As soon as_ you leave here," Titania said. "I know all about twisting promises to your own ends."

Gabriel nodded. "As soon as I leave here, I'll free Mist," he replied flatly. "Now tell us what you know."

Titania watched him consideringly for several moments. "A fairy reborn as human is still subject to our weaknesses," she said finally. "The inability to lie; the weakness to iron... The fact that she cannot break her word once she gives it." She hesitated, seemingly about to add something more.

"You know who she is, don't you?" Castiel asked.

" I know someone thinks _they_ know who she is," Titania replied. "She's being protected by a fairy. He's already killed one of my sister's creatures because he believes something different to Mab." Almost absently, she rubbed at her arm. "I would hesitate over trusting Mab's word if I were you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean demanded before he could stop himself.

Titania ignored Dean as she continued, "And make sure you stay away from Ryssa's sisters. They have become vicious, savage creatures who will kill any human who disturbs them. They have been cursed to only become human on the night of the new moon. And now, you must leave this place." She made a slight gesture as she finished speaking.

And the marble floor fell away.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Finding himself back in the motel room wasn't much of a relief to Dean, as he immediately found bile rising in his throat. He swallowed it down with difficulty and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Well that was productive."

"We know who Ryssa is now," Sam pointed out.

Dean snorted softly. "Like we wouldn't have eventually come to that conclusion ourselves." He looked at Gabriel. "So... Mist. Ex-girlfriend or something?"

Gabriel shook his head. "I don't like my women any more psychotic than I am; which, admittedly, is plenty. She was just a job Dad told me to take care of. Since she'd created the Ice Age, I figured it was poetic justice to trap her inside a block of ice."

"So you were like the Trickster even before you became it?" Sam asked.

"It takes a certain type to become a Trickster," Castiel said.

"You're just jealous cause I thought of it first." Gabriel smirked. "Gotta say, I didn't exactly keep track of Mist's block of ice after freezing her. I'm pretty sure she sank to the bottom of the ocean – but the Earth's shifted so much, I don't know where exactly she is unless I go directly to her."

"What if she went inside the Earth's core?" Sam asked.

"Unfortunately, Sammy boy, that's not going to let me off the hook," Gabriel said. "Short of her falling into Hell, I could probably get her back from wherever she is."

"Do you need someone to go with you?" Castiel asked.

"I don't need a babysitter, Cassie," Gabriel replied. "I can go and get her myself. You three should go to Ryssa. Try not to get attacked by her bodyguard. He probably didn't take too kindly to being frozen in time."

"He knew it happened?" Sam asked.

"Not _while_ it happened, obviously. But definitely now." Gabriel snapped his fingers and vanished.

* * *

><p>Gabriel didn't bother to check where Mist's block of ice was before he ported, so he was a little surprised to find himself in the middle of a museum. Fortunately, there were enough people around that his arrival had gone unnoticed. Besides, he didn't normally let himself be seen unless he chose to.<p>

Backing into a corner, Gabriel watched the people milling about the exhibits. There were glass cabinets with shards of pottery and broken weapons inside; signs with information on about the theories human scientists had come up with about the way people had lived in ancient times. To be honest, Gabriel guessed that the museum wouldn't be getting any attention at all if it wasn't for Mist.

The block of ice was inside a giant fish tank filled with clear liquid. Gabriel studied the woman inside the ice from across the other side of the room. He guessed that attempts had been made to thaw her out, but Gabriel had fixed it so that she would be forever trapped; so that no human would ever free the fairy.

And now, Gabriel was going to have to let her out again.

Her eyes were closed. Gabriel remembered that, when they were open, they'd been flashing with rage – but he couldn't remember what colour they'd been. In fact, her whole face had been angry; in stark contrast to now, with her face calm and composed. Her hair, loose and blonde, hung in plaits down to her waist. She was pale with blue tinges around her nose and mouth.

Gabriel slid his hand inside his jacket and lightly grasped the hilt of his sword. He wanted to make sure he had it ready to hand when it was needed. He could remember when he'd been ordered to stop Mist. Letting her live had been his own choice; and even now, he wasn't sure why he'd spared her.

The thought of her living and trapped, though, had certainly amused him.

* * *

><p>Dean parked the car outside the apartment and looked back at Castiel in the backseat. "So if she's got fairy powers, you can control her, right?"<p>

"She's human," Sam pointed out. "Titania didn't say anything about her having the powers of a fairy."

"Yeah, well, I'm not trusting everything she told us," Dean replied. "I'm not assuming anything."

"Yes, Dean, I can control her if it becomes necessary," Castiel replied before porting out of the car.

"Really wish he'd stop doing that," Dean muttered, getting out of the car.

"At least Cass agreed to come in the car," Sam replied after he got out of the car as well.

Dean shrugged and went over to the call buttons. After a brief pause, he pressed the button for number twelve. "I guess we have to hope she's not in class right now."

"Hello?" It was Kaede's voice which answered.

Dean leaned forward slightly to speak into the intercom. "It's Detective Winchester again. I need to speak to your roommate. Is she in?"

There was a pause before Kaede answered. "She's in class right now. Do you want to come up and wait for her?"

Dean glanced at his brother, who shrugged. He then turned his attention to the call button again. "Sure. We can do that." There was a click as the door was unlocked and Dean went inside, aware of Sam and Castiel following him.

When he got up the stairs, the door was already open. Kaede was standing in the corridor, arms folded as she watched them. "Is Gail in trouble?"

"We think she might be in danger." Dean smiled, stepping closer to the woman. "Do you know what time she'll be back?"

Kaede shrugged. "About an hour or so, I guess. Isn't being in danger the whole reason she has a bodyguard?" She took a step backwards, watching as the three of them entered the apartment. She closed the door behind them and then looked at Castiel. "Hi. I'm Kaede." She held a hand out to him.

Castiel looked at her hand and then at her face, not taking her hand. "My name is Castiel."

"Castiel?" Kaede repeated, frowning slightly. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"He kind of got named after an angel. Mom was a religious nut." Dean went through to the kitchen and put some water in the kettle, switching it on. He glanced towards Kaede in the doorway. "You don't mind if I just grab some coffee, do you?"

Kaede shrugged. "You're already helping yourself. Coffee's in the jar on the side." She indicated it and then walked through to the lounge area.

Sam walked over to Dean, leaning his hip against the counter. "You realise that this takes making yourself at home to a whole new level... right?"

"Gail was my wife in our past lives. I don't feel even slightly uncomfortable about making myself at home." He began making some coffee. "You want any?"

* * *

><p>When Gail came into the apartment, followed by the bodyguard, Dean stood up and walked over to the fairy. "Can we talk?" he asked, sliding his hand under his jacket and grasping the iron poker he'd grabbed from the trunk of the car.<p>

The fairy narrowed his eyes, watching Dean intently. Finally, he nodded. "Fine." He stepped out of the apartment.

Dean followed the fairy outside, letting the door close behind him. "Okay, so let's get the pleasantries out of the way. I know what you are and what you're trying to do."

The fairy glanced away briefly, but didn't show any reaction other than that. "You have some very powerful friends."

"Why are you protecting her?" Dean asked. Sam would have probably been better for the speaking to the fairy part, but it was Dean who was connected to the whole thing.

The fairy slowly shook his head. "You really don't know everything, do you?"

"I know she's going to destroy the world."

The fairy actually laughed at that. "It's amazing just how easy it is to manipulate humans. She _will_ destroy the world... but only if she dies."

Dean blinked. "What? But Mab doesn't want that..."

"Did she tell you that?"

Dean opened his mouth, but then closed it again. "No... She never said that." He leaned against the wall, putting his hands to his head. "Damnit..."

"The one who died? He was sent by Mab to kill her." The fairy continued to study Dean. "What are you going to do?"

"Does she know anything?"

The fairy shook his head. "She has no memories of anything. She doesn't know that fairies exist... That sometimes the monsters under the bed are real." He paused before repeating his earlier question. "What are you going to do?"

Dean said nothing, merely turned and entered the apartment again.

* * *

><p>When all of the humans had left the museum, Gabriel stepped over to the giant tank. The lights had been switched off, but the dark didn't bother him. He snapped his fingers and lifted his hand, drawing the block of ice out of the water and laying it flat on the floor.<p>

Gabriel took his sword out of his jacket and held it in one hand as he crouched down next to the block of ice. He put his free hand on the ice and closed his eyes, feeling it melt under his palm. He opened his eyes again as the ice dissolved, melting away.

Mist lay still on the floor, wearing a thin gown and looking – for all the world – like she was dead.

Gabriel put his hand on Mist's chest, over her heart, feeling how cold she was. Her heartbeat was so faint, it was almost impossible for him to hear it.

After a brief hesitation, the angel leaned in close so that his lips were almost touching Mist's. He braced his hand on the floor behind her head as he exhaled slowly, pushing the power he'd taken so long ago back into her.

Mist's body arched up and she inhaled sharply, her eyes flying open.

Gabriel stared down at her, his knees resting either side of her hips. Slowly, he lowered his sword so that the sharp blade was almost touching her throat. "If you try anything, I will kill you," he promised.

Mist said nothing, just stared up at Gabriel with wide green eyes. She then slowly lifted a hand and pushed his sword away from her throat. "Get off me."

"I'm not actually _on_ you."

Mist just looked at him. After a moment, Gabriel slowly pushed himself to his feet. He put the sword back inside his jacket. "You know what I can do. You know I won't hesitate to kill you if you act out."

Mist slowly stood up, stretching a little. "Why did you let me out?"

"It was the only way to get Titania's help."

Mist paused, looking at him. "Titania sent you?"

"Well... more like blackmailed me into letting you go." Gabriel shrugged slightly. "We need to get back to the others."

* * *

><p>"Are you sure about this?" Sam asked his brother in a low voice as he and Dean sat in the Impala, waiting for the fairy – whose name they'd learned was Robin – to bring Gail out with him.<p>

"Come on, Sammy. We needed a plan." Dean squinted a little, looking out of the car window. "We just need to hope Mab can't turn herself invisible and listen in on us, or hear what we're saying generally."

"Maybe she can't hear us unless we speak her name three times," Sam suggested. "Are you sure Robin's not been misinformed or something? You were so willing to believe that Ryssa went darkside before... and now you've gone in completely the opposite direction."

"You heard what she was saying," Dean replied. "She didn't give any details or anything; and what she said wasn't complete. Robin just came straight out and said it."

"All right," Sam said slowly, glancing out of the window at the apartment building as Robin came out with Gail. "I guess I'll have to back you up. But remember what Titania said about her sisters. Are you so sure that taking Gail to them is a good idea?"

"Look, Sammy, they're not gonna kill their sister." Dean frowned down at the pad on which he'd been drawing the rose tattoo he'd seen in the dream. It looked _mostly _right... but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something missing. He shrugged and shoved the drawing under Sam's nose. "You're the research boy. This look familiar to you?"

Sam took the pad from Dean and studied the design with a frown. He finally handed it back to his brother. "No. Where'd you see it?"

"In my dream. On one of the swan maidens' necks." Dean put the pad away and looked out of the window again. "Come on," he muttered. "How long does it take to say, 'They need to take you down to the station to ask you a few questions'?"

"He's probably trying to come up with a lie that _isn't_ going to freak her out when we don't go to a police station." Sam paused briefly. "So... you were married to her in your previous life. I'd think you'd be acting a little more, well..." His voice trailed off.

Dean shrugged. "I don't really have any feelings for her – you know, other than the whole saving her life, which we do based on principle."

"That's kind of weird, given your past history."

"I was also a woodcutter and you don't see me chopping down trees." Dean sighed as he saw Gail walking over to the car. "_Finally_," he muttered.

Gail got in the backseat of the car. "I don't know why Robin couldn't come as well," she grumbled. "He's supposed to be protecting me."

Dean snorted softly. "Like you're not safe enough with two cops?" He started the car, glancing back over his shoulder at Gail. "We just need to make a stop first."

Gail nodded. "Yeah. Robin told me you needed to meet someone at the lake. It's not like I have any plans tonight." She leaned back slightly, looking out of the window.

* * *

><p>By the time Dean pulled up just outside the forest, it was far later than he'd thought it would have been. If he could have, he would have chosen a different lake to go to – but according to Robin, the lake inside this forest was the place where Ryssa's sisters normally gathered.<p>

Dean exchanged glances with Sam and then got out of the car. He went round to the back and opened the door for Gail. "Come on."

Gail frowned at him. "Aren't you going to take your partner? I don't want to go."

"I need you to identify someone for me." The lie tripped easily off Dean's tongue. "My partner's staying here in case I need backup." He put his hand on the iron poker under his jacket. "Don't worry. I've got plenty of protection with me." Of course, he doubted Gail would think that an iron poker was better than a gun.

But Dean was hoping he wouldn't actually have to use it.

Gail looked far from convinced, but she finally nodded. "I guess if you _really_ need me..." She got out of the car with a sigh, closing the door a little harder than necessary.

Dean cringed and actually had to resist the urge to give the Impala a reassuring pat. He was tempted to say something, but the moon was high in the sky – and he was aware, from what Robin had said, that the swan sisters would be preparing to land soon and take human form. Dean wanted to get Gail to them before they had the chance to finish changing. He was hoping that the bonds between the sisters would be strong even now; and that he could leave Gail with them for her own protection.

"Follow me," Dean said. He headed into the forest, not looking back at Gail. According to Robin, the lake wasn't _that_ far into the forest.

* * *

><p>The lake was in the middle of a clearing. Dean shone his flashlight around, squinting at the water. The swan maidens hadn't arrived yet; and Dean slowly drew the iron poker out, grasping it tightly in both hands.<p>

"Who are we waiting for?" Gail demanded.

"Sh," Dean replied, slowly tilting his head back as he heard the sound of rushing wings. As he watched, a group of swans flew down to land on the lake. As each one touched the water, there was a flash of light – and in the swan's place, a woman stood in the lake.

Under any circumstances, Dean would have been threatening the women. His first instinct was to do just that, but when he heard Gail gasp, he stepped back so that he could see her as well as the sisters. "Look, we don't have time for the whole truth is out there speech. There are monsters in the world. Me and my brother – he's not my partner – hunt monsters. I need to leave you with those women." He paused briefly before continuing, "You'll be safe with them."

Gail backed away. "I'm not going anywhere other than back home!"

Dean glanced over at the five women, who were beginning to look in their direction. He took a tighter hold on the poker, wondering if he should have brought Sam along anyway. He wasn't exactly good at the whole talking to monsters thing.

One of the swan maidens – Dean recognised her as the one who had killed Philip – stepped out of the water and over to them. She paused and looked at the two.

It would probably have been better to put the poker down, but Dean wasn't about to lower his guard. He couldn't give even an inch.

But something was wrong. Dean didn't know what, but he was aware of the fact that the swan maiden wasn't trying to attack him. In fact, she wasn't making any threatening moves towards him at all. Both Mab and Titania had recognised him as being Philip reincarnated; why wasn't the fairy who had _killed_ him doing the same?

"I want to go home..." Gail whimpered from just behind Dean's shoulder. "I don't know who you think I am, but you've got the wrong girl!"

"No one's going to hurt you," Dean replied, not taking his eyes off of the swan maiden. He continued speaking to the fairy. "This is the reincarnation of your sister, Ryssa."

"No." The voice of the swan maiden sounded rusty, as if it hadn't been used in a long time.

"Well, yeah, she's human now." At least the swan maiden wasn't attempting to attack him – but Dean slowly lowered the poker as confusion took hold. This was nothing like the vicious woman who had attacked the village after Ryssa had been burned. "Don't you recognise me?" he demanded, trying to get a rise out of her. "I'm the reincarnation of the person who killed your sister!"

The swan maiden just stared at him, saying nothing. Dean suddenly realised that his cell phone was ringing in his jeans pocket. He transferred his grip on the poker to one hand, taking his cell phone out. "Now's a really bad time, Sam."

"I just spoke to Bobby about the design you showed me," Sam replied. "Is there blood edging the petals of the rose?"

"I don't know." Dean eyed the swan maiden warily.

" Can I _please_ go home?" Gail demanded, coming over to stand next to Dean, staring at the swan maiden with wide eyes.

Dean held up a finger. "What if there is blood on the rose?" he asked his brother.

"According to Bobby, the mark of that kind of rose is a binding spell if it's used in the correct way," Sam answered. "If someone marks a person in that way, it gives them control. They can basically turn the victim into their own personal slave... or make them act outside their own natures. Bobby said that he knows of only one creature who uses that kind of magic." He was silent for a long time before finally speaking again. "Dean... It sounds like this form of binding magic is seen on those touched by one specific fairy – Mab."

"Wait... you mean it was _Mab's_ doing that the swan maidens went feral and attacked the village?" Dean glanced sideways at Gail and then frowned, noticing that her bare arm was brushing against the iron poker. He slowly lowered the cell phone. "You're not hurting or anything?"

Gail gave him an odd look. "No... Why?"

Dean stared at her for several moments. Could Titania had been wrong about the weaknesses? It was possible, but unlikely. They'd made a bargain, after all. Perhaps iron didn't affect her, but one of the other things did. "Do me a favour. Try lying to me."

Gail blinked. "What?"

"Just try it," Dean said.

"Okay... I have green skin." Gail backed away from him, staring at Dean like she thought he'd lost his mind as well.

"Damnit!" Dean raised the cell phone to his ear again. "Sam, we got the wrong girl. Gail isn't Ryssa's reincarnation." He let out a few more swear words, dropping the poker to the ground and clenching his free hand into a fist. "Should have known this was wrong. We were too quick to jump on this. I'll come and meet you back at the car and we can figure out where to go from here." He hung up and glanced at the four swan maidens on the lake.

Wait... there were four swan maidens on the lake and one in front of him and Gail. But Ryssa had had six sisters. One of the swan maidens was missing. "Where's your other sister?" he asked the swan maiden in front of him.

The fairy just tilted her head and looked blankly at him. Dean knew that she could understand him, but perhaps being in swan form for so long made it difficult for her to communicate out loud. He couldn't do anything other than watch, though, as the swan maiden turned and walked away to rejoin her sisters. He wasn't likely to get any more information out of her – and Dean guessed that none of the swan maidens knew where Ryssa's incarnation was.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

Dean walked over to the car and got in the driver's seat. "Well that was a complete waste of time," he commented.

Sam looked at his brother and then back at Gail as she got in the car as well. "You okay?"

"I just want to go home and forget this ever happened," Gail replied. "I don't even know what I saw. It just seems like a dream. If it's all the same to you, I'm going to pretend that all of this was a dream. A dream I'm never gonna tell anyone about. Ever." She leaned her head against the window. "Just take me home. Please."

Dean started driving, his hands clenched tightly into fists on the steering wheel and his knuckles white. "Do you think Mab sent us on a wild goose chase so she could go after whoever Ryssa is now?" he asked Sam.

"Yeah..." Sam took a deep breath. "I'm gonna guess that she was in the bar when Robin was fighting the other fairy..." He broke off, suddenly thinking of something, and looked over his shoulder at Gail. "Your roommate, Kaede. She's supposed to be taking medication that makes her sick, isn't she? What's wrong with her?"

Gail slowly shook her head. "I don't understand what that has to do with anything."

"Just answer the question, please," Sam replied.

"I really don't know why you want to know this, but... she's anaemic," Gail said slowly. "She has low iron in her blood. And if it makes any difference, the medication she has to take makes her sick."

"Huh." Sam looked at his brother. "I guess that explains why you felt so comfortable in their apartment even while Gail wasn't there."

"You couldn't have thought of that earlier?" Dean demanded. "We're probably gonna get there and find out that Mab's already got to her." He was seriously tempted to punch something, but unfortunately, there was nothing in the car he could do that to. "Gail, what's Kaede likely to be doing right now?"

"She likes going to the swimming pool in the leisure centre at night," Gail answered.

"If we'd bothered to ask the right questions, we would have figured this out before we brought Gail to the forest," Sam muttered.

"Thanks, Sam. I've been trying not to think about that." Dean put his foot down on the gas harder. "I don't care how long it takes, we're getting to the swimming pool as quickly as possible. You'll need to let us know where to go to get to the leisure centre."

* * *

><p>Gabriel stood outside the museum, staring at the cell phone Dean and Sam had given him. He glanced at Mist, who had wandered off for the fifth time, this time studying a sign by the side of the road. As he watched, she stretched out a finger to trace the writing on the sign.<p>

"Mist?" Gabriel struggled to keep the frustration out of his voice. He'd already had to pull her out of the road once when a car was about to come round the corner. It was just like Gabriel would have imagined dealing with a child was like.

There was a reason he wasn't big on children.

Looking reluctant, Mist left the sign and walked over to Gabriel. She tilted her head a little to study the cell phone in his hands. "What's that?"

"It's a way of communicating," Gabriel explained. "I need to figure out how this works so I can call the Winchesters." He pressed a few buttons before looking at Mist, noticing that ice was beginning to form on her eyelashes. "So. You gonna tell me just why you caused the Ice Age?"

"Nope." Mist turned away, lacing her hands behind her back. "You know, maybe..." She cut off suddenly.

Gabriel started to ask her what was wrong, but the sensation hit him like a punch to the gut. When he could lift his head again, he noticed that the world seemed to have lost some colour. "Something's happened... Another doom to face the world." He reached for Mist with one hand, closing it around her wrist and raising the other hand to snap his fingers.

* * *

><p>Dean hopped out of the car almost before it had even stopped, racing towards the leisure centre with Sam close on his heels. When he was inside, Dean only took a moment to work out which direction he needed to go in. The obvious sounds of fighting helped him to work out which route he needed to take; and he wielded the iron poker in one hand and a gun in the other hand as he ran down the left-hand corridor.<p>

When Dean and Sam burst through the doors to the swimming pool, the first thing Dean saw was Robin lying crumpled by the swimming pool. The final swan maiden was battling another fairy, whose wings were sparkling in the artificial light. And there was a woman lying face-down in the water, blood staining the liquid around her.

There was a flash of intense light in one corner of the room and Gabriel appeared with a woman, Castiel coming into view close behind them.

Knowing that the others would take care of the fairy, Dean leaped into the water and swam over to Kaede. He rolled her over onto her back, noticing that her eyes were closed. Was she even breathing? Dean towed her over to the side and carefully lifted her out of the water, placing her on the floor. He was only dimly aware of the fairy suddenly pushing away from the swan maiden and vanishing, but he looked up as Castiel approached him after placing two fingers against Kaede's throat. "She's not breathing."

The angel slowly crouched down beside Dean, looking from him to Kaede's body and back again. "I cannot heal her." He looked back over his shoulder at Gabriel.

Dean gently smoothed Kaede's wet hair away from the bloody wound in her head. "He must have hit her while she was swimming. She wouldn't have even seen it coming." He looked past Castiel, following his gaze to Gabriel. "Cass isn't at full strength, but you are."

"It's too late," Mist said quietly. "Even if she's brought back... They wanted to spill her blood. Death wasn't necessary."

"You got the wrong girl, Dean," Gabriel pointed out. "You and your brother really need to stop expecting me to clean up your messes. First of all there was the whole Lucifer thing. Now this? I'm not Cassyboy. I'm not your kept little angel. I'm not going to just help you for no reason."

"You've helped us this far, Gabriel," Sam said quietly. "Besides, if you bring Kaede back to life, Dean will owe you a favour."

Gabriel considered that for a few moments and then shrugged. "Guess I can go for that." He stepped over to Kaede's body, crouching down and placing a hand on her neck. He then looked at Dean. "Remember, she's lived once before. I can bring her back, but I have no idea how she'll be affected by it." He clenched his fingers a little on Kaede's skin and snapped the fingers of his other hand.

Kaede's whole body arched and she breathed in sharply, her eyes flying open. She then cried out, pushing herself backwards.

Dean glanced at Gabriel, but then turned his attention back to Kaede. "It's all right," he said quietly. "You just hit your head. You're going to be okay now." He didn't really want to tell her that she'd been dead for a while and had been brought back by an angel. He didn't really want to think about what Mab was going to do to the world. If it wasn't bad enough that they had to deal with Lucifer wanting to destroy the world, now they had to deal with whatever a psychotic fairy was planning.

"Who are you?" Kaede asked, wrapping her arms protectively around herself. "Where am I?" she asked, sounding uncertain, looking around.

Dean sat back slightly, unable to help a frown. He looked at both Castiel and Gabriel, the latter of whom stood up and walked over to the second woman. Castiel didn't say anything and Dean turned back to look at Kaede. There was something strange about the way she'd spoken. Her voice wasn't Kaede's, but there was still a strangely familiar tone to it.

"Perhaps you should take her home," Castiel suggested.

Kaede looked between them. "To Philip?"

Dean opened his mouth and then closed it again. Had Gabriel bringing Kaede back broken down the walls surrounding her memories of being Ryssa completely? Dean was struggling to deal with his memories of his past life, but at least he still remembered who he was now. "I can't take her back to her apartment while she's like this," he said quietly to Castiel. What was he going to tell her? That she'd died as Ryssa, betrayed by her husband? He could avoid telling her any details, but she was going to figure out something was wrong when they got outside and everything was different to how she remembered.

Dean stood up and moved back, motioning for Castiel to come over to him. Once they were out of earshot, Dean spoke in a low voice. "We should take her to Titania and see if she knows what to do with her." He still didn't really trust the fairy, but he couldn't deny that she'd given them helpful knowledge.

Castiel glanced at Kaede and then back at Dean. "Titania won't give you anything for free."

"She wants something," Dean replied. "I'm willing to bet it wasn't just about Mist being freed. Titania doesn't strike me as being the sentimental sort. If she wants something, we can use it to get her help." He hesitated and sighed. "Look... Can you take me back there?"

"I can't do that without Gabriel's help," Castiel replied.

Dean nodded slightly. "Guess we need to ask him, then." He looked over towards Gabriel, but before he could speak to the other angel, his attention was pulled away by someone crying out. He spun on his heel to see the swan maiden falling, arms wrapped around her stomach as she panted hard. "What's wrong?" he demanded.

"It's dawn, or close to it," Castiel said. "Her kind have been cursed to become swans for most of the time. If they're not on a lake by the time to transform back comes, then they will suffer agony until they get to a lake."

"Like the Little Mermaid?" Sam stepped over to the swan maiden, crouching down next to her. "It's all right," he said quietly to her. "We'll get you to some water."

Dean frowned. "The Little Mermaid's about a mermaid who becomes human and loses her voice, isn't it? What's that got to do with anything?"

"That's not all that happened in the original version," Sam explained. "After the mermaid became human, for every step she took, it felt like she was walking on sharp knives." He helped the swan maiden up, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to support her.

Dean shook his head. "Dude, you read _way_ too much." He looked around at the others and took a deep breath. "Okay. Sam, you take the swan maiden to the seafront. Gabriel, I need to go and speak to Titania again." He glanced at the woman standing close to Gabriel. "Mist, I assume?"

Mist inclined her head slightly. "What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"What do you know about all this?" Dean asked. "Why did Titania demand your freedom? And why her?" He indicated Kaede. He glanced briefly at Sam as his brother took the swan maiden out of the swimming pool, but kept most of his attention on Mist. "Why did it take Kaede's blood to cause... whatever this is?"

Mist shrugged. "I'm not privy to whatever Mab's plans are. What I _can_ tell you is that we can sense a fairy who's become mortal – whether through choice or by dying and then being reincarnated as a human." She glanced towards Robin's crumpled form. "You'll need to bury his body, or whatever you humans do."

"Yeah... We'll take care of that." Dean breathed in deeply and sighed. "Gabriel, will you take me to Titania? Please?"

Gabriel looked like he was going to refuse, but finally, he nodded. "She'll have to come with us." He nodded to Mist. "Cassie can stay here and look after your girlfriend. The way she is now, anything major's gonna fry her brain. I'll create an illusion in case anyone comes in. Don't want anyone asking unanswerable questions."

"She's not my girlfriend." Dean looked at Castiel. "Don't tell her anything. If she asks anything, stall her until we get back." He then nodded to Gabriel. "Let's go."


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

By the time Sam got to the car with the swan maiden, he was having to all but drag her. She was stumbling with each step, soft whimpers escaping her. Sam didn't know if getting her in the car would help the pain, because she'd be sitting rather than walking. He suspected not, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about trying to support her.

Sam helped the swan maiden into the passenger seat of the Impala and then got into the driver's seat. A glance back over his shoulder revealed that Gail had left the Impala. He couldn't blame her, but he knew he and Dean should probably make sure that she wasn't likely to talk later.

Sam started driving, casting a glance at the swan maiden, who was curled up in the seat. Dawn's light was coming through the window and playing over her skin. She was still making soft whimpering sounds, but the light didn't seem to be making her any worse. Sam wasn't really sure how to help her other than what he was already doing – getting her to water she could change back in – but he figured that perhaps talking to her might help distract her. "What's your name?"

The swan maiden was silent for so long that Sam thought she wasn't going to answer at all. When she finally did, she didn't look at Sam; and spoke in quite a low voice. "Marina."

"I'm Sam." Sam hesitated briefly, but figured that, since he was getting her talking – even if it was only a one-word answer – he might as well carry on. "So how did you know your sister was in danger?"

"Instinct," the swan maiden answered. "I've always known when one of my sisters is in danger." She gasped and put her hand to her stomach, panting a little with pain.

Sam looked at her with concern. "Are you okay?"

"What kind of a... stupid question is that?"

"You're right." Sam guided the car to a stop just outside the seafront and then got out of the Impala. He walked round to the passenger side and opened the door for Marina, helping her out of the car and holding her steady when she stumbled. "It's all right. Just a little further." Once again, he had to all but carry her – this time towards the water.

After a brief hesitation, Sam waded into the water, wincing a little as the intense cold sliced through his shoes. He then gently set the swan maiden into the water, though keeping his hands on her shoulders.

Marina relaxed as soon as her feet touched the water, the tension leaving her body. Her black hair fell in a soft cloud over Sam's hands, framing a face naturally tanned. Dark brown eyes looked into Sam's and, for a few moments, the two of them just stared at each other.

And then bare skin turned to soft feathers under Sam's hands. He stepped back as a swan appeared in Marina's place, tall and with a long, graceful neck.

And then the swan lifted up into the air, flying to join five other swans while Sam watched.

* * *

><p>When Dean, Gabriel and Mist appeared in Titania's palace, Gabriel stepped over to Dean. "You should probably let me handle this," the angel said quietly. "You've got negative feelings coming off you in waves. Last thing we need is for you to fly off the handle."<p>

"I _do_ know how to talk to people," Dean replied. He moved away from Gabriel, walking towards Titania who watched them calmly, her face revealing nothing. He paused just before her throne. "Mab spilled Ryssa's blood."

Titania tilted her head slightly to the side. "So you failed to stop her. What does that have to do with me?" Her gaze moved over Mist, but when she returned it to Dean, her expression didn't change. "I've already told you all I'm prepared to."

"There's a reason you told him to get Mist out of the ice," Dean said, struggling to remain calm. "You want something. What?"

Titania leaned back slightly on her throne, steepling her fingers under her chin and looking at Dean. "Perhaps I was moved by sentimentality."

"You don't have anything sentimental in you, Titania," Mist said quietly, walking over to the other fairy. "You know why I had to be sealed away – and you know the dangers inherent in freeing me. So I add my own question to the human's. Why set me free?"

Dean looked towards Gabriel, but there was nothing in the angel's face to indicate that he knew what Mist was talking about any more than Dean did. With a frown, Dean turned his attention back to Titania and Mist.

Titania moved, slowly, and took hold of Mist's wrist, her fingers tightening when the other fairy tried to pull away. Small drops of blood welled around Titania's fingers and dripped to the floor as she pulled Mist's hand to her own chest. With her free hand, Titania sliced a shallow cut with a long nail just below her throat – and pressed Mist's bleeding wrist to her own cut.

Mist's body arched and her eyes grew wide, turning pure white. Titania let go of her wrist, but neither pulled away. After a few moments, Mist started shuddering, blood trickling out of her ears.

A blur of movement caught Dean's eye and he glanced to the side just as Gabriel darted forward and pulled Mist away from Titania.

Almost immediately, Mist's eyes returned to normal and she sagged against Gabriel. "They want the same things," she whispered. "Mab and Lucifer. Different plans – same goals. Maybe the way to defeat one is the same way to defeat the other." She took a deep breath. "We need to find my sisters."

Dean frowned. "What sisters?"

Titania spoke up from where she was slumped on her throne. "One lies in a polluted lake. The second sleeps inside a bleeding tree. The third is held by scientists determined to discover her secrets." She slowly lifted her hand. "Gather the four sisters and bring them here. I can only allow you access one... last... time..." She snapped her fingers and the palace vanished.

* * *

><p>When they appeared back at the swimming pool, Gabriel – realising that he was still holding onto Mist – let her go; though he was prepared to catch her again should she prove to be unsteady on her feet.<p>

Dean glanced up as the door opened, but then relaxed a little as Sam came through. He walked over to his brother. "You run into any problems?"

Gabriel didn't hear Sam's reply as he headed over to Castiel, only sparing a glance to the woman still sitting on the floor, arms wrapped around her legs as she rocked backwards and forwards. "Did anyone come in?"

Castiel shook his head and indicated Kaede. "She started acting like this shortly after you all disappeared. It will cause problems if she's lost her mind. Can you help her?"

" I'll see what I can do." Gabriel didn't have his full strength since giving Mist back her energy, but he still had the Trickster powers – and his arch angel abilities, of course. The problem would come if Kaede's issues came from her soul. Gabriel didn't know _anyone_ – angel or otherwise – who was able to heal a soul. Perhaps his father could... but God was gone; and from all appearances, it looked like he wasn't coming back.

When Gabriel reached out to touch Kaede's forehead, she flinched back. He followed her, touching two fingers to her forehead and bracing his other hand behind her neck. He then reached inside.

Kaede's mind was a kaleidoscope of images and memories. She remembered _everything_, but the memories were too much for her – so the part of her that was Ryssa had come to the front as part of her refusing to deal with the reality of the situation.

She wasn't going to be able to cope with the memories; not now.

Gabriel smoothed the threatening memories back and behind a temporary block. When he withdrew, Kaede blinked and tilted her head slightly to the side. "What did you do?"

Without answering, Gabriel just patted her shoulder and stood up. He walked over to Dean and Mist. "It's only a temporary solution," he explained. "She's gonna have to deal with those memories."

Dean glanced over at Kaede and then at Gabriel. "So what are we going to do?"

"What did Titania tell you?" Sam asked in a low voice.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Not anything that made much sense. We have to find her sisters." He jerked his thumb at Mist. "Whoever they are."

"Summer, Spring and Autumn," Mist said. "My sisters are asleep."

"How long have they been asleep for?" Sam asked.

"Centuries," Mist answered.

Dean frowned. "You mean they've been trapped inside ice as well? Or... whatever?"

Mist shook her head. "They chose to retreat from the world; to sleep. And with the others gone, the balance of the world was destroyed."

" And _that's_ why you caused the whole ice age?" Dean asked. He looked at Gabriel. "Did you know about this?"

"I knew she was a danger." Gabriel shrugged. "Didn't really ask a lot of questions. To be honest, I was pretty boring back then. You'd hardly have recognised me."

"I'm guessing they're not all in the same place," Sam commented. "How are we gonna get them within a reasonable amount of time?"

"I'm thinking we need to split up," Dean replied. "There are three sisters we need to get out of wherever they're held. According to Titania, one of them's being experimented on by scientists; the second's inside a polluted lake... Oh, and the third's inside a bleeding tree. Cause it can't be easy to find them, oh no."

"Okay, well..." Gabriel looked around and shrugged. "Here's a suggestion. Dean, you take Kaede; Sam can go with Cassyboy... and I'll go off with Mist." He held up a hand when Dean opened his mouth to argue. "Yeah, I know. You don't want to let your brother out of your sight cause you're worried about the whole Lucifer thing. I'm not gonna tell you everything's gonna be all right – but it'll be a damn sight better to have two people per team than to have someone going off on their own."

Dean gritted his teeth. "No, this is a _very_ bad idea. Even leaving aside the very real possibility that Lucifer might come after Sam – and, yeah, I know Cass carved those Enochian symbols into our ribs; that's not my point – I don't really want the psychotic former fairy with me. Besides, she's human now. How much help can she really be?"

"You and your brother tend to underestimate people," Gabriel said. "Also, gotta say, me? Not big on the whole prophecy thing. But when I get flashes of things, I take notice. You want to beat Mab? To have a shot at beating Lucifer? This is how it's gotta be."

"I don't suppose you know _where_ we have to go?" Dean asked, seriously tempted to argue with Gabriel – but the angel was looking more serious than Dean had ever seen him. If nothing else, Sam's life wasn't something Dean was going to play around with. Of course, he knew that Castiel and Sam hadn't spent much time alone together. He was pretty sure the angel wouldn't hurt his brother – but Dean also knew that Castiel still thought of Sam as an abomination; akin to a monster.

It hadn't been that long ago that Dean had come close to sharing those views.

With that in mind, Dean turned to his brother. "You gonna be okay, Sam?"

Sam shrugged. "Sure. It's not like we can't call each other. And if this can help us against Lucifer as well..." His voice trailed off.

Dean nodded and turned back to Gabriel. "What else can you tell us?"

"This isn't an exact science, Deano," Gabriel replied. "You're gonna have to treat this the same way as any other case. And we need to divide up the three sisters in the way that's gonna work best for us. My suggestion? I'll take care of the sister inside the tree. You can take care of the sister being experimented on. Cassy can go after the sister in the lake."

Dean frowned. "But Cass said he couldn't go inside the water without help."

Gabriel shrugged. "Then all I've got to do is transfer some power to him."

Dean blinked. "Is that even possible?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah. And then we'll need to go our separate ways. And make sure you have plenty of iron. Mab might not know exactly what Titania's told us, but she'll know we won't take this lying down." He glanced at Mist and then walked over to Castiel.


	11. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

Once they were outside the leisure centre, Dean glanced at Kaede, a little relieved that she seemed mostly normal – although she seemed quite distant and clearly wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings. Dean was tempted to try and draw her out of her memories of the past, but he wasn't prepared yet to look at how he felt about their past history together.

"We should separate now," Gabriel said, tilting his head back slightly to look at the sky.

Dean nodded and looked at Sam. "You should get a rental. And be careful."

"Dean, I'm not an idiot," Sam replied, rolling his eyes. "I'll make sure I call you every day and check in with you."

"You'd better." Dean turned, looking at Kaede. He sighed and tried not to think about how hard this was going to be without his brother, angel's word or no. "We need to go back to the motel room; collect the things I left there."

Kaede blinked at him. "Where are we going?"

"To do research – and then to find someone." Dean hesitated, but reached out to take hold of Kaede's elbow. He wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't do something stupid like wander into the middle of the road when there were cars coming. He looked at the other four. "Make sure you all keep in contact." Without waiting for a reply, he turned, steering Kaede in the direction of the car.

* * *

><p>Inside the motel room, Dean started packing the few things left out into a duffel bag, anxious not to leave behind any signs of their presence.<p>

"So who exactly are we looking for?" Kaede asked, her voice sounding a little less distant as she focused on Dean from where she was sitting on the bed.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "You with me now?"

Kaede looked down at her hands. "The silence is the worst," she admitted. "I... I don't even know what's going on. It's like I'm two different people. There's Kaede, the med student... and then there's Ryssa, a person who shouldn't even exist outside of fiction. I don't even know which is me right now. It's like I'm fractured."

A part of Dean was aware of the fact that they probably didn't have a whole lot of time; but he couldn't just ignore Kaede and leave her to the memories without making _some_ attempt to help. With a sigh, he sat down next to Kaede. "They're both the same person. The only differences come from whatever outside factors have imposed."

"But a person raised in extreme poverty will be different to someone whose family is rich."

"That's a little extreme." But Dean could see her point. How many times had he wondered how different he would have been if his mom had never died?

Kaede merely shrugged. "If I think like Ryssa, the only thing I'm worried about is finding my husband. But I'm not stupid. Too much time has passed for him to be anything but dead."

Dean opened his mouth, but then closed it again. Maybe it would be best to tell her who he was, but he couldn't find the words. Without saying anything, he got up and continued packing, then lifted the bag off the bed and slung it over his shoulder.

"Why am I supposed to go with you?" Kaede asked.

"Gabriel paired us up like this. Seemed to think it was the only chance we had to succeed." Dean walked to the door. "Not sure if I believe him, but I'll take all the help I can get." He glanced back over his shoulder at Kaede. "You coming? We need to stop off at the library first."

"I guess." Kaede got up with a sigh.

* * *

><p>Dean sat at one of the computer desks in the library, frowning at the screen. He raked his hands through his hair and glanced back at Kaede, who was sitting at a table reading a book. He then turned his attention back to the screen.<p>

It would help if he knew what he was looking for.

There were several different articles about labs with new discoveries that seemed possible places for something out of the ordinary to be. He printed off the information and maps and then headed over to Kaede. "What are you reading?"

"About the witch trials." Kaede looked up at him. "You know, when someone talks about the witch trials, they always think about burning at the stake. But apparently, more witches were hanged than burned alive."

"They probably killed more innocents than proper witches." Somewhere in a corner of his mind, flames burned. If Dean listened, he could hear the screams. "Kind of morbid reading, isn't it?"

"It was a book that kind of jumped out at me," Kaede answered. She closed the book and rested her hands on top of it. "Did you find anything?"

"Too much." Dean put the papers in front of her. "Read them; see what you think. Then we can go get something to eat."

"Sleep would be good too," Kaede admitted, starting to look through the papers. "Is this normal for you? Operating on no sleep?"

"It's easier when there's some action," Dean admitted. "You know, the whole running on adrenaline thing? Plus, drinking coffee helps." He sat down opposite her. "A lot of hunting involves boring legwork."

"That's what you do? Hunt?"

"We kill evil – my brother and me," Dean replied. "Of course, there have been some issues with what's actually evil."

"What about me?"

Dean didn't answer for a few moments, trying to get his thoughts together. "I pulled you out of the swimming pool and indebted myself to an angel to bring you back. What do you think?"

"Thank you," Kaede said quietly.

"It's what I do. If you're too tired to concentrate, we can always find a motel room to rest in and then you can take a look at the articles."

"No... I'm good. But maybe I could look at these over some food," Kaede suggested.


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Gabriel knew that Mist was waiting to say something, but he waited until all the others had left before he turned to her, still both outside the leisure centre. "What is it?"

"I know I haven't been awake for that long, but I'm pretty sure the world's a big place," Mist answered. "You've sent them to find two of my sisters, but they don't even know _where_ they're going."

Gabriel looked away briefly. "I'm just doing what I'm told." And it annoyed him that he was still following daddy's orders even after all this time. He could try and blame it on the Winchesters, but a small part of him knew better.

"I've lost touch with my sisters," Mist said. "I have no idea what Titania meant about a bleeding tree, but I'm guessing she didn't mean _actual_ blood."

"What else did Titania show you?"

"Only what you already know." Mist looked up and down the street and then back at him. "So what's the plan?"

"You have ice on your eyelashes." Gabriel reached out and touched a gentle finger to the ice, finding it was firmly attached. "Is that a conscious thing?"

Mist held very still, looking at him without blinking. "There's always a trace of ice on me. It's when it becomes more than a trace you need to start worrying about imprisoning me inside ice again."

It occurred to Gabriel that if he moved his fingers down, he'd be touching Mist's cheek. Instead, he brought his hand back. "So I've got to watch you and see where the ice is?"

"Or you could just watch me." Mist stepped backwards. "Where are we trying first? I assume the tree is probably inside a forest or something. We're going to have an awful lot of those to look through to try and find this tree."

"There are these things humans made called computers," Gabriel answered. "They're supposed to be really good for looking up information on. We might find something that way." He stepped closer to her. "Anything I need to look out for when it comes to you turning into some monster that wants to cause an ice age?"

"The more I use my powers, the faster I'll lose myself," Mist explained. "If I don't use my powers at all, I can keep my sanity for perhaps three months. How fast I decline depends on how much of my power I use; the strength of my magic." She turned to face him. "If it happens, you shouldn't wait until the last minute. You need your strength to stop Mab's plans, not in having to battle."

Gabriel reached out and closed his fingers around Mist's wrist. "That means you have to let me do the whole power thing. When Titania blood-bonded with you, did that do anything to speed it up?"

Mist shook her head. "I wasn't using any power at that point. It's just the use of my power which makes my decline even faster. Once we find my sisters, though, it should be easier." She looked down at Gabriel's hand, then up at him. "Are we going?"

Gabriel ported them into the library after making sure that there was no one around who might see their appearance. He let go of Mist's wrists and did a slow turn, noticing the shelves upon shelves of books. "I've never understood humans' fascination with books, enough to build whole buildings to contain them." He noticed some computers on desks and headed over to them, sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Do you even know how to use one of those?" Mist asked, walking over to stand behind him. "They look far too complicated."

"I know you were awake inside the ice – I made sure of it," Gabriel said, looking back over his shoulder at her. "Why are you so ignorant about these things?"

"It's not like I could _hear_ everything. Most sound was muffled, unless someone was standing really close – and inside the fish tank, it was even worse." She sat down on one of the chairs next to Gabriel, watching as he typed. "How do you know how to use a computer anyway?" she asked.

"I've had to adapt," Gabriel replied. "I can get a lot of use out of what humans have come up with." He started typing. "So... It's pretty safe to say that Titania didn't mean a tree that was actually bleeding, since humans would be making a huge deal about that. So maybe we should take a look at trees who are 'bleeding' sap?" he suggested, using air quotes.

Mist frowned, touching a finger to her chin with a thoughtful look on her face. "If one of my sisters has bonded to a tree, it would bleed – it would be _her_ blood – when someone tries to cut it down; to harm it."

Gabriel frowned, wondering just what they would be dealing with if Mist's sister was stuck inside a tree. In fact, out of the four of them, it was likely Mist was the only sane one. Was it possible they'd be insane and uncontrollable? But Gabriel had been shown the only possible way to free the three sisters. He knew it hadn't been a trick.

Though he also knew it probably wouldn't be long before Lucifer found out what was happening. There wouldn't be any way of staying out of the war this time – but Gabriel had made his decision; and even though he would have preferred their dad to step in and put a stop to the fighting, he was prepared to lift his sword again.

But Gabriel didn't want to dwell on that right now. He focused his attention on the computer, typing in several different things before he finally found a message board about a tree that seemed likely; one which had a whole group of humans part of a 'Friends of the Earth' club who had taken on the so-called duty of protecting it. Mother Nature nuts... Gabriel had never been particularly fond of them.

"You found something?"

"I don't know – maybe." Gabriel nodded to the screen. "This looks like it might be likely. It's not far from here, either, which makes sense. You and your sisters probably still have quite a bond; and it makes sense you wouldn't drift too far apart."

Mist just shook her head. "My sisters picked places close together, it's true. But you encased me in ice and dropped me into the ocean."

"It's not like you stayed stationary, though," Gabriel pointed out. "Your ice prison eventually made its way here. I bet you'd be able to tell if one of your sisters was inside that tree." He knew, maybe better than anyone, just what the bonds between sisters and brothers were.

"Maybe you're right," Mist answered. "I suppose it's worth a try anyway. Of course, then we have to worry about whether or not she's gone insane in there..."

Gabriel looked at her. "Guessing I'm not the only one concerned about that, right?"

"How can I _not_ be worried about it? Titania didn't tell us any easy places they would be in. You might have to be prepared to incapacitate them." Mist hesitated before continuing, "No matter what it takes."

"Even if it means putting you back in ice?"

Mist was silent for several long moments and then finally reached a hand out to him. "You need to port us to the tree."

Gabriel nodded and interlaced his fingers with Mist, creating an illusion so that no one would see them when he ported them out of the library.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

Sam felt a little uncomfortable with the silence from the angel sitting next to him, used to the banter he and Dean normally engaged in. "So... do you have any ideas about where this fairy could be?" he asked Castiel, as much as to fill the silence as to get the angel's perspective.

"Humans have caused a lot of pollution," Castiel answered. "There are a lot of lakes Titania could have meant."

"I guess." Sam gave a small frown. "But maybe Mist and her sisters have some kind of connection, you know? It would make more sense if they were close together." Besides, it gave them somewhere to start.

"I would offer to take you to the lakes, but I know your brother doesn't really like travelling in that way," Castiel said. "I can't imagine why."

"I think it's partly to do with how unnatural it is – but since I'd prefer to find her as quickly as possible, I don't mind if you want to take us to any likely place," Sam replied.

Castiel nodded, glancing briefly out of the window. "That car has been close for a while."

Sam blinked and looked in the rearview mirror, noticing a white car he'd seen about half an hour ago, staying two cars behind them. For a few moments, he just watched the car, noticing the tinted windows. "Hold tight," he warned Castiel, before suddenly swerving to the side. Ignoring the angry beeping from several horns, he took the road off the highway, casting a glance back as the white car shot past, too late to turn and follow them. "Wow. Never though _that_ would work."

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"Dean's not the only one who watches movies." Sam's fingers tightened on the steering wheel as adrenaline coursed through him. It wasn't often he did something like that; and it had never occurred to him how it might make him feel.

Now he had some idea as to why Dean did so many potentially dangerous things.

"Could you not look up some information on that thing you use?" Castiel suggested after a little while.

"You mean my laptop? I guess I could do that – but if I just typed in 'polluted lake', I'd get far too many hits. We need to find someone to get information from," he muttered.

"You mean a fairy? It sounds like Titania isn't prepared to give any more information."

"I'm not talking about Titania. Or Mab," Sam added. "But maybe there's someone else we can ask for help from." Sam's mind went immediately to what Titania had said about the swan maidens being cursed. If it had been a fairy who'd been responsible, then maybe he or she would be willing to help them out.

Since Sam could only assume that the cursing had been as a result of the swan maidens destroying the village after Ryssa's death, he thought that maybe whoever had cursed the six sisters might be willing to stop the world from being destroyed.

"Who are you thinking of?" Castiel asked.

"I need to find out who cursed the swan maidens," Sam answered. "Castiel, do you know if that would be possible?"

"Sometimes strong connections leave a mark on a person's soul," Castiel said. "It may be possible to follow the trace back to the fairy or whatever is responsible for the curse." He paused briefly. "However, the act of looking inside someone like that is _exceedingly_ painful. If I'm looking inside one of the swans, you might need to hold her down."

"Sure, I can do that." Sam took a deep breath. "Now I have to figure out how to get one of the swan maidens here..."

"I could perhaps summon one," Castiel suggested. "Gabriel loaned me a portion of his powers. This would be within my capabilities."

Sam thought about it, but couldn't figure out any problems in doing that. "Well, we can't do it in the middle of the road. I'll find a place to pull over." He looked around and finally pulled into a lay-by on the side of the road. He got out of the car as Castiel did, glancing at the trees alongside. "I guess through there's as good a place as any." He headed round the side of the car, walking through the trees with Castiel close behind him.

Sam stopped as soon as they were far enough away from the road that passing cars couldn't see them and turned to Castiel. "If you're going to summon a particular swan here, you might want to go for Marina," he said. "I think she might be the one taking care of the others – the older sister, I guess."

Castiel inclined his head in a slight nod and then closed his eyes, tilting his head back as a bright light seemed to come from inside his skin, making it impossible to look at him.

And then Sam heard the sound of flapping wings. He looked up as a swan came flying into view, swooping down to come in for a graceful landing on the ground. She flapped her wings once and then stood still, looking at Castiel and Sam.

"Do you think she can understand what we say?" Sam asked in a low voice.

Castiel merely shrugged. "This is not something I have much experience in. You could try talking to her and see if she understands."

"Okay then..." Sam knelt down in front of the swan, looking into her eyes. "If you can understand me, Marina, Castiel here is going to find whoever cursed you. He's going to try and trace back to whoever cursed you," he explained. "We can find out if there's a way of breaking the curse." He looked into her eyes, searching for some hint of understanding. He couldn't tell how much Marina knew he was talking about – if anything – but they didn't really have much of a choice. He straightened and nodded to Castiel. "Go ahead."

Castiel stepped over to the swan, crouching down in front of her. He then reached out and placed his hand on her body. Bright light surrounded his fingers.

And then Sam heard the most awful screaming noise coming from the swan. She started thrashing around and trying to pull away, but Castiel merely leaned closer into her. At last, though, he pulled back from the swan and stood up. He nodded to Sam. "I know where we have to go."

"Can you take us there?"

Castiel nodded. "That wouldn't be a problem. But I don't know what you want to do about the car," he added.

Sam glanced at the car and then at Castiel. "I guess we should leave the car here. We can always come back to it – or I can get a new car if need be." He glanced over at the swan as she lifted off the ground and flew away. He couldn't blame her. Whatever Castiel had done to her, it was clearly very painful.

Castiel nodded. "Very well." He reached out and touched Sam's forehead.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

Dean looked at Kaede across the table as he finished his cheeseburger and started in on the fries. "Any luck?" he asked around a mouthful of food.

Kaede tapped one of the printouts. "It makes sense that the lab would be close to Stanford. That's where Mist was found, right?"

"How do you know that?"

"_I_ don't know that – but Ryssa does," Kaede answered. "I guess maybe she's... instinct?" She shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe something's been knocked loose inside my head. Anyway, I think it makes sense if the lab's very close to this town. And this one fits that criteria." She tapped the sheet.

"You realise that's the medical centre at Stanford University, right?" Dean asked quietly.

Kaede shrugged. "The lab detailed in the printout is one med students aren't allowed in. We don't meet with the workers there or really interact with them. If we both go there, no one should be able to recognise me." She sipped some of her coffee, but that couldn't stop her from giving a wide yawn, covering her mouth with one hand.

"I'm guessing sleep first would be a good idea, right?"

Kaede shrugged. "I'm not denying that I kind of need sleep right now. I'm having trouble concentrating. I don't know if you've come up with any kind of plan, but I doubt I'd be able to help at all without some sleep."

Dean nodded. "We can go back to the motel room and sleep then come up with a plan," he suggested, standing up and putting some money down on the table to pay for the food.

* * *

><p>Dean wasn't sure what had woken him up. He sat up on the bed and glanced towards Kaede on the other bed. She was still sleeping. A glance at his watch revealed that he'd only been sleeping for about half an hour – so what could have woken him?<p>

Something moved in the corner of the room, drawing Dean's attention to it. He slowly slid his hand under his pillow, grasping the gun he always made sure he kept under there. He drew it out, cocking the gun and aiming it at the thing he could see moving.

It took Dean a few moments to realise that there was a person standing in the corner of the room. Flames were obscuring the person's form and he narrowed his eyes slightly, his heart doing a slow turn in his chest as he realised that the person he was looking at had long, white-blonde hair.

Dean was no stranger to death echoes. But this was the first time he'd seen one with such a direct connection to him.

After glancing again at Kaede to make sure she was still sleeping, Dean slowly slipped off the bed. He still held the gun in his hand, but he had no intention of using it. He just felt better with a weapon in his grip. He slowly walked over to the death echo, looking into eyes that were pale... so pale... and not focused at all on him. "Ryssa?"

There was no response from the death echo. Flames licked up her body and Dean could almost imagine the smell of burning. Was she here because Kaede had been hit on the head? Or did she just appear every night when Kaede slept?

And now was really not the time to try and analyse this.

Dean slowly placed the gun on his bed and then stepped nearer to Ryssa. "Ryssa." He said it again, slightly louder this time, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Kaede rolled over. He turned his attention back to the ghost and reached out as if he was going to grasp her shoulders – but didn't actually touch her. "Hey, snap out of it! You're dead!" Okay, so he wasn't actually being very empathic. But what else could he do or say?

"Dean? What're you doing?"

Dean glanced over at Kaede as she stirred, looking at him. He then looked back at the death echo, who was now gone. With a sigh, he stepped over to the bed. "Nothing, it's fine. Go back to sleep."

"Don't think I can now..." Kaede slowly struggled into a sitting position, yawning widely. "You were saying some weird things."

"Were you dreaming?"

"I guess..." Kaede shrugged. "It felt like I was burning up..." She shook her head. "I don't understand..."

"I'm sorry."

Kaede blinked. "Why?"

Because he was the reincarnation of the man who'd betrayed Ryssa and allowed her to be burned alive. The words were there, but Dean couldn't force them out. "Cause it must suck. You should try to get some more sleep."

"Turns out sleep? Is about as bad as the silence. I'm guessing Ryssa died in fire..." Kaede looked away briefly. "I wish I knew what she wants."

"Revenge?"

Kaede slowly shook her head. "I don't think so. It's not... anger I feel; mostly just sadness." She combed her fingers through her hair. "I'm going to go and take a shower; see if I can't wake myself up some more. Then I think I need some coffee to try and wake me up." She headed into the washroom.

Dean sat on the edge of the bed with a quiet sigh. He picked up his gun, holding it in one hand, struggling not to think about the death echo. What if he was going to have to deal with this every time she slept?

Trying to distract himself, Dean looked over the printout for the lab at Stanford University. He could probably pretend to be a scientist visiting. Maybe Kaede could pose as his research assistant or something. It could work. Dean wasn't sure he was happy about bringing Kaede with him, but if Gabriel was right, they needed to work together in this.

Dean didn't think he was going to enjoy having to work with Gabriel, but as long as the angel didn't play any tricks, he would tolerate it. Besides, Castiel didn't seem to have any problems with it.

As Kaede came out of the washroom, towelling her hair dry, Dean glanced up. "We should probably get you a change of clothes."

Kaede glanced down at her clothes and then looked up with a shrug. "They'll last for today. Do you have a plan for how we can get into the lab?"

"Yeah." Dean looked at her. "I'm gonna be a visiting scientist. You can be my research assistant."

"Okay..." Kaede sat down on the bed next to him. "You've got some form of ID for that?"

Dean smirked. "I've got fake ID for just about anything. Me and my brother don't get anywhere if we tell people the truth, so we need to come up with some convincing lies."

"Is your name really Dean Winchester?"

"Yeah, that part's true." Dean got up from the bed, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Shall we go? Might as well get it over with sooner rather than later."

* * *

><p>Dean stood outside the lab with Kaede next to him, his ID tucked into his jacket pocket. He was fairly confident of being able to wing his way into the lab. Of course, if he was going to have to understand any medical jargon, he might have to pick the most likely definition.<p>

"You ready?" Dean quietly asked Kaede.

Kaede nodded. "Why wouldn't I be? I've got a hunter to protect me."

Dean smirked a little. "Yeah, I am kinda awesome, aren't I?" He turned his attention to the buzzer and pressed it.

After a moment, the intercom crackled. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Doctor Ford," Dean said, doing his best to sound official. "I have some information that would probably be really useful to you. We probably shouldn't talk about it out here, though. Can my assistant and I come in and speak to whoever's in charge?"

"I need you to show some ID to the scanner."

Dean took the ID out of his jacket and showed it to the scanner, acting far more confident than he felt. It was easier to show the fake IDs to a human; but he guessed he shouldn't be surprised that there was more security at a lab. Now would be a really good time to have some angel mojo.

After what seemed like an age, the scanner flashed once and then the door clicked, slowly swinging open. Dean stepped into the building, Kaede following him. The door swung shut behind them with what Dean thought was an ominous click.

The first thing Dean noticed about the lab was the smell. It was the same antiseptic smell that hospitals had. In fact, it looked very much like a hospital – with white walls and a long corridor, even with a reception desk. Dean took all of this in within moments and then turned to the older scientist approaching them. "Hello, Doctor..."

"Sanders," the scientist replied. "You have information for me?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah. I know what you're experimenting on. We've got one in our lab."

Doctor Sanders just looked at Dean. "And what do you think we have here?"

"I'm going to take a wild shot in the dark. Pretty woman, skin reacts badly to iron? Couldn't lie if her life depended on it?" Dean smirked. "How close to the mark am I?"

"You seem to know a lot about what we're doing here, Doctor Ford," Doctor Sanders replied. "But I don't know anything about you. You won't mind if I just call your supervisor and get your credentials, will you? Which lab did you say you were from?"

Dean suddenly felt a hand creep in under his jacket. He jerked back, but not before Kaede succeeded in pulling out the iron poker. Instantly, the stench of burned flesh filled the room.

Doctor Sanders reacted immediately, jabbing Kaede with a sedative. As she collapsed, Dean caught her in his arms.

"Use me to get in," Kaede whispered right before her eyes closed.

"I'll take her." Without waiting for a reply, Doctor Sanders took Kaede from Dean's arms, having to pull her away a little. "You need to fill out a few forms."

Dean was a little taken aback by Kaede's actions, but that didn't mean he wouldn't go with it. He struggled to think of the correct wording and then spoke. "Since I brought you a... specimen... can I see your fairy?"

"Fill out those forms at the reception desk and then you can see her." Doctor Sanders walked away with Kaede.

Dean was strongly tempted to take a gun out and start firing, but that wouldn't help him get to the fairy. Besides, there was the distinct possibility that he'd end up hitting Kaede.

Looked like he was still winging it... for now.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen**

When Gabriel got to the forest with Mist, the first thing he noticed was that there were people camped out in front of the tree. He let go of Mist, taking a step back. "Those humans are going to notice when we get your sister out of the tree."

Mist shook her head. "What do we do?"

"Can you make it cold?" Gabriel looked at her. "Cold enough to make them leave?"

"Are you serious? I already warned you what will happen if I use too much of my power."

"If we free your sisters, it'll be all right." Gabriel shrugged. "You're Winter. We need to find some way of making the humans leave. Best way? Humans really hate the cold. You don't have to make it snow. Just make it cold enough for them to feel _really_ uncomfortable."

Mist glanced at the humans and then at Gabriel. She tilted her head slowly, watching him. "I'll do it. But I want something first."

"What? Flowers? Chocolates? Tiny little ice sculptors?"

"Nope. Just curious about something." Mist leaned in and very lightly touched her lips to Gabriel's.

Taken a little by surprise, it took Gabriel a moment before he slowly grasped Mist's shoulders, pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss. Her lips weren't cold, like he would have expected – and the skin beneath his hands was warm.

Mist pulled back, finally, though she looked a little dazed. "Mmm... Right, well... That was... interesting."

"Just interesting?" Gabriel reached for her again.

Mist sidestepped neatly out of his way, turning to look at the humans around the tree. "I said I'd make it cold, didn't I?" She lifted her hands and tilted her head back, a soft pale light playing around her fingertips.

Gabriel felt the movement of power brush over his skin, almost seductively. It had been a long time since he'd been with a woman with power – and the feel of Mist's power moving made him wonder what it would be like to have sex with her. Of course, he had to think of other things right now – but it would be interesting to see how it might develop between them.

As the temperature lowered in the forest, Gabriel felt it – but the cold didn't bother him. There was a trace of amusement as he noticed the humans beginning to gather their things and start leaving; but when the trees started shimmering with a fine coating of ice over the bark, Gabriel quickly moved forward and grabbed Mist's arm.

The power faded as Mist slowly lowered her hands, turning to look at Gabriel. "Too much?"

"I'll say." Gabriel reached out to touch a trace of ice in her hair. "Better hope we get your sisters freed soon." He let his fingers linger a moment longer than necessary and smirked when he saw the widening of her eyes, then started walking towards the tree, drawing his angel sword.

"You're going to cut her out?" Mist quickly followed Gabriel, walking over to the tree and gently placing her hand against the trunk.

Gabriel looked at her. "Can you feel her?"

"Without extending my senses, I can sense that there's something inside this tree. But I can't tell if it's one of my sisters or not. It's been a very long time since I've been near any of them," Mist admitted.

"There's only one way to find out." Gabriel placed the sword against the trunk and slowly slid it downwards. As he did so, he reached out with his mind to check that he wasn't slicing into the fairy that was inside the tree. As soon as he had created an opening big enough, he reached in and pulled out a slender, tiny woman with long red hair.

"Ember..." Mist dropped to her knees next to the other fairy, slowly brushing away wood chips. Her eyes widened as she saw long, vicious-looking gashes in her sister's arms.

Gabriel crouched down next to Mist, reaching out to put his hand on Ember's shoulder. "I can heal her body, but her mind might be a different matter," he said to Mist. "You should be aware that she might not be herself."

"I know." Mist took a deep breath. "I think I can take care of her."

Gabriel nodded and passed his hand over Ember, healing her wounds – though he kept her asleep. "Which one is she?" he asked Mist.

"Summer." Mist gave a quiet sigh, looking down at her sister. "Maybe we should get chains or something; tie her up before she wakes up. We can't have her on a rampage. Should be interesting to see whether ice or heat destroys the world first," she muttered.

"Uh-uh... Should I pick up a set of chains for you too?" Gabriel smirked.

"No. I think I'm all right." Mist sat back on her heels, rubbing at her forehead. "Maybe it would be better to get her to a room first."

"You know, I feel like I should warn you." Gabriel leaned in very close to Mist to whisper in her ear. "I _am_ going to seduce you and sleep with you." He drew back, arching his eyebrows at the slightly surprised look on Mist's face. "What? You think you can just get away with kissing me like that?"

Mist swallowed, glancing down at her hands. "Can we just get her to a room and tied up until I can work out what damage has been done to her?"

* * *

><p>Sam looked around as he and Castiel appeared next to a lake that seemed relatively free of pollution, the water clear and blue. "I'm gonna guess this isn't the lake one of the season fairies is in." Of course not. That would be too easy.<p>

"It doesn't appear to be." Castiel glanced at the small wooden hut next to the lake and then away again. "No one is there."

Sam started to suggest that maybe they should come back later, but his attention was drawn to a large rock in the middle of the lake. Seated on the rock was a young woman with curly black hair that fell to the rock's surface and a long, shimmery tail that dangled in the water. "Okay... That's a cliché." He reached for his gun, thankful that he'd thought to load in iron rounds.

The mermaid slowly tilted her head to one side and then slipped off the rock, swimming over to the side of the lake and resting her folded arms on the ground, looking up at Sam and Castiel. "I don't get many visitors here."

Castiel glanced at Sam and then crouched down in front of the mermaid. "Do you know what happened to the person who lived in that hut?"

"He died. A long time ago." The mermaid looked from one to the other. "Why? What do you want from him?"

"We needed him to break a curse he put on some people – and also his help to find someone else," Sam answered.

"The swan maidens? Sorry, but they're staying cursed. They destroyed his village; killed everyone in it. It's only justice," the mermaid explained.

"They were controlled by Mab," Sam said.

"You got any proof of that?" The mermaid tilted her head slowly to the side, more of her hair trailing in the water.

"They bear the mark of a chained rose and have made no attempts to attack people," Castiel said.

"Soo... all you've got is coincidence and gut feeling?" The mermaid shook her head. "Can't go on that. I'm going to need something a little more solid."

"The world is going to be destroyed," Sam said, trying to keep the note of frustration out of his voice. "We need their help."

"I don't care about the world," the mermaid answered. "I'm safe enough in the water here."

"Is there something you want?" Castiel asked.

"First of all, point that thing someplace else." The mermaid gestured towards the gun Sam was still holding. "Secondly... you might as well have my name. It's Clefe."

"Are there any more mermaids in there?" Sam asked.

Clefe shook her head. "My sisters lost their tails and became sea foam. I'm the only one left here. So why should I help you?" she asked.

Sam stepped backwards and motioned for Castiel to join him. When he did, Sam spoke in a low voice. "Do you know anything about mermaids?"

Castiel slowly shook his head. "Mermaids are normally very shy creatures – and I have had more important things to concern myself with."

"Okay." Sam took out his cell phone and began dialling. "Can you keep her occupied for a few moments?" he asked Castiel. "I just need to speak to Bobby." When the angel walked back over to Clefe, Sam connected the call.

Bobby answered after only a couple of rings. "Yeah?"

"Hey, Bobby, it's Sam again," Sam said. "Listen, do you know anything about mermaids?"

"That they don't exist?"

"Well, I'm looking right at a non-existent mermaid. She looks pretty real to me. Says her name's Clefe. You know that rose symbol you told me about? It sounds like she might be able to free the swan maidens, but we need to convince her to help." Sam turned his back to Castiel and Clefe as he continued to speak. "You got any ideas?"

There was the sound of rustling papers before Bobby spoke again. "There's a lot of lore about mermaids. I can't tell you everything, there's simply too much. Some stories say they like pretty, shiny things – like magpies. Others that they're disloyal and only look out for themselves. They'd as soon drown you as help you out."

"I guess we've got the looking out for themselves part down pat," Sam muttered. "Thanks, Bobby. I'll call and update you when we know what's going on."

"You'd better, boy. My legs might be out of order, but that doesn't mean my mind's any less sharp." There was a click as Bobby disconnected the call.

* * *

><p>Castiel wasn't sure exactly how Sam expected him to keep Clefe occupied. He'd never spent much time with females – angel, human or otherwise. Clefe also made him feel more than a little uncomfortable; though maybe that didn't have a lot to do with her personally.<p>

"What's your friend doing?" Clefe asked, tilting her head slightly.

"He's speaking to someone." Castiel crouched down. "What do you want? What would persuade you to act?"

"I have no interest in anyone or anything in this world." Clefe shrugged.

"You're alone," Castiel guessed. "No... Lonely. Why do you stay here?"

"All sorts of reasons," Clefe replied. "I suppose the biggest is that I've been waiting here for something in particular. It's never been the right time to leave." She tilted her head slowly. "Perhaps now is the time."

"How will you know it's the right time?" Castiel asked.

"There'll be some sort of sign." Clefe glanced past Castiel to Sam as he walked back to them. "Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked him.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen**

Dean felt his fingers itching as he filled out the forms. He barely bothered to read them and certainly didn't pay any attention to what he was writing. Once he was done, he thrust the papers at the receptionist. "I want to see the fairy now," he stated, not wanting to waste any more time.

"I just have to call Doctor Sanders..." The receptionist picked up the phone.

Dean nodded, taking a step backwards and sliding his hand into the holster under his jacket, checking to make sure his gun was still there. The cold metal of the weapon was a comforting weight in his hands; and at least if he needed to use it, he knew it would work on humans. Of course, Sam wouldn't be too happy if he ended up wounding some humans... but Dean figured they weren't great examples of humans if they were experimenting on creatures. Killing them if they were evil was one thing; torture was something else.

Dean had his standards.

The receptionist spoke on the phone for a few moments and then disconnected the call, looking at Dean. "I just need to print you off an ID badge and then you can go through into the laboratory at the far end of the corridor," she said.

Dean nodded, struggling not to show just how frustrated he was getting. He tapped his foot impatiently on the floor until the ID badge was printed off and then clipped it to his shirt. "The door at the far end of the corridor, right?" he asked.

The receptionist nodded. "If there are any problems, please do come back."

"Sure." As Dean headed to the door at the end of the corridor, he reflected that he hadn't made any attempt at all to hit on the woman. Clearly, someone who chose to work in a lab which tested on living things didn't live up to his standards.

Dean stopped cautiously in front of the door, noticing the scanner set in place next to it. He paused a moment and then stepped closer. A red light swept over the badge he was wearing and a loud beeping noise sounded. Then there was a click. After a brief hesitation, Dean reached out and pushed the door open, stepping into the lab.

Doctor Sanders looked up from a bed which he had Kaede lying on and nodded to Dean. "You took your time. I'm just running some tests on your 'friend' here."

Dean only allowed himself a brief glance at Kaede, but it was enough to take in the fact that there was an IV attached to her arm, pumping he couldn't tell what into her bloodstream. Slowly, Dean slipped his hand under his jacket to grasp the gun. In one swift move, he had it out and pointed at Doctor Sanders.

The scientist narrowed his eyes at Dean. Slowly, his hand crept towards the wall behind him.

Dean fired, only just missing Doctor Sanders' hand. "I don't think so. Make a move towards that panic button again and I'll blow your hand off. Get that stuff out of her arm." He nodded to Kaede, not taking his eyes off of the scientist.

"It won't do you any good. That's iron entering her bloodstream."

Dean's grip on his gun wavered just a little. "You're poisoning her?"

"She is expendable and gives me a chance to see how iron entering the bloodstream of a fairy will affect her."

Dean's finger tightened on the trigger, but with some effort, he didn't fire the gun. A shot would only bring someone running to see what was happening. "You bastard," he said quietly. "Take it out of her arm now."

Slowly, Doctor Sanders removed the IV from Kaede's arm. Blood trickled out of the small cut, but Dean resisted the urge to go over to her. He spoke to Doctor Sanders. "The other fairy you have? I'm going to go with you to bring her here. If there's anyone else through in the other room, you're going to act completely normal. Is that clear?" He was desperate to help Kaede in some way, but he didn't have the first clue about how to get the iron out of her bloodstream. All he could do was hope that she'd hold on long enough for them to get to Gabriel, since he'd probably be the only one who could help her.

Doctor Sanders glanced at the gun, a fine sheen of sweat covering his face despite his calm tone and expression. He then looked back at Dean's face and nodded. "Very well." He turned, walking to a door in the far wall of the room.

Dean followed him, casting a glance towards Kaede on the table. She was still breathing, but her skin was bubbling, as if something was moving beneath the surface. He stretched out a hand and lightly touched her arm, feeling something moving under the skin. "Hold on, Kaede," he muttered, before following Doctor Sanders.

The new door opened up into a room filled with metal cages containing all sorts of different animals. There was a larger cage with a woman with light brown hair curled up in it, her hair dry and matted from apparently lack of care.

Dean gestured with the gun. "Unlock the cage. Let her out." He was relieved to see that there was no one else in the room – but that raised the question of whether or not he was going to be stopped on the way out.

Dean suspected he would be. After all, there was hardly going to be just two members of staff working in a lab.

Once Doctor Sanders had unlocked the cage, Dean nodded to it. "Get her out."

"You don't know what you're asking me to do."

Dean's finger tightened on the trigger. "Let her out... or I'll shoot you." Of course, then he'd have to figure out how to get two unconscious women out of the lab. But he'd deal with that. There'd be some way of managing it, even if he had to call Gabriel for help.

Doctor Sanders hesitated, but then finally helped the fairy out of the cage. Her head lolled to one side and her eyes were closed, her skin a pasty colour and covered with innumerable injection marks – particularly in her arms.

Dean took a step back – not taking his eyes off the scientist – and gestured with the gun towards the door again. "Take her through," he ordered.

Doctor Sanders half-dragged, half-carried the fairy into the other room.

Dean transferred his grip on the gun to one hand and reached out for Kaede on the bed. He couldn't tell how much worse she was, but after he placed two fingers against her neck, it was a relief to find she was still alive. Carefully, he lifted her up, wrapping his free arm around her waist. He grunted at the weight of her and had to shift her a little. He then aimed the gun at Doctor Sanders. "Start walking."

The scientist started walking, supporting the fairy. Dean followed with Kaede, looking up as a couple of armed guards came out of one of the other doors. He stepped closer to Doctor Sanders and jabbed the gun into the man's back, angling himself so that the gun couldn't be seen by those approaching. "Act natural," he hissed.

Doctor Sanders stiffened slightly but nodded to the guards. "We are just transferring these two specimens to another facility," he said, his voice clear and strong.

As they passed the guards, Dean felt the back of his neck prickling. His ears caught the sound of sliding steel and he spun smoothly on his heel, lifting his gun and firing as one guard drew a sword.

The bullets simply seemed to bounce off of an invisible shield and Dean hesitated, gritting his teeth slightly. He still had hold of Kaede and he moved back so that he could see the scientist and the two guards. But there was no way he could fight them all at once.

Looked like they were at an impasse.

* * *

><p>Sam looked at Clefe, who stared back at him without showing any expression on her face. What was her connection to all of this? He'd caught the tail-end of her comments as he'd walked over. It had sounded like she'd been talking about destiny.<p>

Sam had no intention of allowing his so-called destiny to pass. At the same time, however, he wasn't sure he could believe in Titania's words. He wanted desperately for there to be another way... but even if there _was_, it would hardly be any easier.

When had his life ever been easy?

"What if I take full responsibility for whatever happens with them?" Sam asked Clefe.

"As in... if you're wrong, your life is forfeit? Is that what you mean?" Clefe asked.

Castiel stepped away from Clefe and spoke in a low voice. "Don't agree to anything, Sam. We don't know enough about her for you to put your life in her hands."

"Do we really have a choice?" Sam asked in an equally low voice. If there was a chance – even a small one – he had to take it. "We need her help. And we could use Marina and her sisters, too."

Castiel slowly shook his head. "I believe you are making a mistake."

"I know." Sam stepped away from Castiel, approaching Clefe. "I'll take responsibility for their actions. Now will you free them?"

"No – but I'll give you the way to free them," Clefe answered. "Inside the hut over there is a bottle of green liquid. One drop sprinkled on each of the swans' heads will remove the curse. But _only_ one drop," she added. "Any more will seriously wound or even kill them."

"I get it." Sam turned to enter the hut, but paused at Clefe's next words.

"You must go alone from here."

Sam slowly turned round to look at Clefe. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that the hut works as a gateway to other places," Clefe answered. "When you come out of there, you'll be in a different place than here."

Sam shook his head. "That's impossible."

"There is power here," Clefe replied. "Strong protective magics woven around this lake. If you came here, it was because you were allowed to... because you were _meant_ to."

Sam glanced at Castiel. "That means you're staying here?"

"You are going to go and break the curse on the swan maidens," Castiel stated. "I may as well search for the season fairy who is trapped inside a lake with Clefe."

Sam opened his mouth to argue, but he wasn't sure why. Castiel's comment made sense, even though Sam knew he could have used the angel's help. "I guess we'll all meet up... eventually," he said. He still didn't understand why he had to do this alone, but he guessed he didn't have a choice. Dean would have argued on the principle alone, but Sam knew time was of the essence. Feeling a little lost, he walked towards the hut, pushed open the door and stepped inside.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen**

Knowing he couldn't hold onto Kaede and use his gun at the same time, Dean slowly lowered Kaede to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see more bubbling under her skin. He didn't know anything about what was wrong with her, but it looked like she was gradually getting worse. "I'm guessing you're working for Mab," Dean said, not taking his eyes off of the fairy, even after he saw wings coming out of one of the guard's backs. "So this whole lab is under her control?"

"Actually, I'm just trying to develop better cures and other things for people," Doctor Sanders said.

"Doesn't matter if you have the noblest reasons in the world," Dean replied. "You're still hurting people." He heard the sound of rustling wings behind him and turned his head slightly to see Gabriel and Mist standing behind him. Then, he turned back to the two guards. "Looks like you're outnumbered here."

The wings disappeared from the guard's back even as he took a step towards Dean. "It doesn't matter what you do. You're never going to stop this."

"Never's an awfully long time." Dean's finger tightened on the trigger of his gun. "I've got iron rounds here. I'm not afraid to use them on you." He would have been tempted to just open fire, but he was aware that would probably bring more unwanted attention. Even though it galled him to have to let one of the fairies go, he had to get Kaede and the season fairy out of the lab.

And even though Gabriel and Mist were there as well, Dean was far more concerned with getting everyone out in one piece.

The fairy just stared at Dean for several moments before he took a step back. He then glanced at the other guard and inclined his head slightly. The two then simply vanished.

Dean let out a breath he hadn't even realised he'd been holding and then turned round to look at Gabriel and Mist. "You found one of the season fairies?"

Mist nodded. "Ember – who is summer." She tilted her head slightly to look at the fairy in Doctor Sanders' arms. "That's Kessel – the autumn fairy."

Gabriel stepped forward and snapped his fingers, catching Kessel as Doctor Sanders collapsed, unconscious, to the ground. He then looked at Dean. "This is the best idea you could come up with?"

"Hey, it wasn't _my_ idea." Dean holstered the gun and went to pick up Kaede again, noticing how pale she was. He was more worried than he cared to admit, finding that her skin was ice cold. "They poisoned her," he said to Gabriel. "Can you do anything to help?"

"You're asking for my help? _Again_? Come on, Dean. If you're not careful, you'll be selling me your soul."

"Heal her," Dean said through gritted teeth. "I have to put up with you tagging along here when I don't even trust you. She got herself captured to get me in here. So you owe her."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes slightly. "Watch how you speak to me, Winchester. I don't _have_ to do anything."

If Sam had been there, Dean was sure his little brother would be able to smooth things over. As it was, though, Dean was going to have to get by on his own. "If you're choosing to help us, you've gotta pull your weight."

Gabriel reached out to touch Kaede's head, glancing at Dean. "I'm not doing this for you." He then pulled his hand back and snapped his fingers.

* * *

><p>Sam held the vial of liquid in his hand as he stood in front of the door of the hut, frowning slightly. He still wasn't entirely sure about this, but did he really have a choice? He couldn't stay in the hut forever.<p>

Slowly, Sam reached out and pushed open the door. He took a moment to look through and see he was in the middle of a forest. He slowly aimed his gun in front of him as he stepped out of the hut and into the forest.

Behind him, the door of the hut swung closed with an audible thump. Sam turned round, raising his eyebrows as he saw that the hut had vanished. Well... That was proof of what Clefe had said. But was he really where he needed to be?

There was only one way to find out. Sam started walking, his gun trained in front of him. He wasn't prepared to let his guard down for even one moment.

"Where are your friends?" a voice spoke from behind him.

Sam whirled round to see Mab standing behind him. His finger tightened on the trigger and he fired, but Mab simply vanished. Sam felt something behind him and he whirled, firing the gun again.

Mab's form flickered. "When are you going to learn, Sam? Those kinds of weapons aren't going to work on me."

"Then what _will_ work on you?"

Mab shook her head, a smile playing around her lips. "I'm not being drawn into that kind of conversation. Oh... are you missing something?" She smiled, holding up the vial of liquid she had taken from the hut.

Sam blinked, glancing down at his empty hand and then at Mab. "How did you...?" he began.

Mab wagged a finger. "I have tricks you can't even begin to imagine." She smiled – not a nice smile – and spoke in a sweet voice. "I think I'll let you get taken out by the very ones you're trying to save." With those words, she simply vanished.

* * *

><p>Castiel turned to the mermaid as Sam disappeared into the hut. "Do you know where the fairy trapped inside the lake is?" he asked.<p>

Clefe tilted her head slowly to one side, watching him closely. "You mean Drada, the spring fairy? I do know where she is, yes. But it's a very bad place for my kind to enter."

"Because humans have polluted the lake?" Castiel guessed. "Would it affect you the same way if you had legs?"

Clefe folded her arms, narrowing her eyes at him. "I have chosen not to walk as a human. If you want to go find Drada, I can take you to where her lake begins, but that is it. I cannot go any further."

"Very well," Castiel replied. "Do we need to travel through the water?"

"It depends on how long you can hold your breath," Clefe replied, holding a hand out to Castiel.

After a brief hesitation, Castiel took Clefe's hand, letting her pull him into the water.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen**

Dean frowned at his cell phone, trying to resist the urge to call Sam. There was no reason to worry. His brother could take care of himself.

But since finding out that Sam was supposed to be Lucifer's vessel, Dean couldn't help worrying about his brother when Sam was away from him.

There was movement from the other bed in the motel room. Dean glanced over at Kaede on the bed, putting his cell phone to one side. He then stepped over to the bed, looking down at her as she stirred, eyes opening. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Kaede blinked a few times. "I'm... okay, I guess. Did you get the season fairy?" she asked.

"Yeah." Dean frowned at her. "Why would you _do_ something so stupid?"

"You weren't going to be able to get in," Kaede replied, struggling into a sitting position. "I just thought it might be better to get you into the lab by revealing what I am... was." She frowned.

"Yeah, well, we don't do that," Dean said, struggling to keep the note of annoyance out of his voice. "Using ourselves as bait never goes well." He purposely ignored the amount of times he'd used himself as bait. It wasn't nearly the same thing.

Kaede shook her head. "I don't see why you care."

"You want to know why I care? Really?" Dean grabbed Kaede's shoulders and kissed her hard. After a moment, he felt her yield against him, her lips parting under his.

"You know, a simple 'I like you' would have worked just as well," Kaede said, sounding a little breathless, once the kiss had ended.

"We're not in high school," Dean replied. "You want the truth? You know Philip, the guy who killed you as Ryssa? He got reborn as well."

Kaede's mouth slowly opened and she stared at Dean. "Wait... _you're_ Philip's reincarnation? But... you're not like him."

"Oh, I'm more like him than you think." Dean stood up. "Not too long ago, I would have ganked you just for being something supernatural."

Kaede slowly got off the bed and walked over to Dean. "You going to kill me now?"

Dean shook his head. "Last thing on my mind."

"Good." Kaede slid her arms around Dean's neck and gently kissed him.

Dean wrapped his arms around Kaede and kissed her, edging them both over to the bed. He then pinned her onto the mattress beneath him, his kisses growing more passionate.

* * *

><p>Gabriel stood in the middle of his own motel room, looking at Mist as she stood by the adjoining door, looking into the other room where Kessel and Ember were. "You know, they're not going to wake up until I let them."<p>

"It's just been a while..." Mist slowly closed the door and then turned to Gabriel. "Anyway, um... you hungry?"

Gabriel smirked. "What, did you forget what I told you?" He took a step forward and felt his grin grow wider as Mist took a step back. "Are you scared of me?"

"No." Mist stopped when her back hit the wall. "Just... I didn't really think you were serious."

"Sometimes I'm not," Gabriel admitted. He stepped over to Mist and placed his hand on the wall behind her head. He then leaned in and touched his lips to hers. "This? I'm serious about," he whispered.

"Oh... Okay." Mist slowly stepped forward, away from the wall and into Gabriel's arms.

"That a yes?" Gabriel raised his eyebrows.

"Was there a question?"

* * *

><p>Sam wasn't sure what he should do. He stayed on his guard, turning his head from side to side. His fingers gripped the gun tightly, though he wasn't sure he'd be able to shoot to kill if Mab was going to send one of the swan maidens after him.<p>

There was movement behind Sam and he whirled, his fingers tightening on the trigger.

Marina was standing behind Sam, in her human form. She was stumbling a little, her eyes glowing with an eerie green light. There was a long sword in her hand and her fingers were wrapped so tightly around the hilt that her knuckles were white.

Dean would probably kill him for this, but Sam had no intention of using his gun to kill Marina; not when he knew she didn't have any choice in what she was doing. After all, Sam had so far survived causing the apocalypse... and he'd been the one to make the choices that had eventually doomed the world.

As Marina approached Sam, he stepped backwards, wishing he'd managed to find out how to break Mab's spell. He kept most of his attention on the swan maiden, but also looked at the rose tattoo out of the corner of his eye. There _had_ to be a way of breaking the spell – he just had to find it.

Without saying anything, Marina swung her sword at Sam. He leaped back, then ducked under another strike, sliding past Marina and standing up behind her. She swung on him, lashing out with her sword in a slicing strike.

Sam jumped back, but the blade scored a line of fire across his stomach. He gasped and winced, putting a hand there, feeling blood running through his fingers. He then let go – ignoring the blood that dripped to the ground – and grabbed a knife from his belt. An idea was beginning to form in his mind, though he didn't know for sure if it would work.

When Marina came at him again, Sam dropped the gun to the ground. He then sidestepped from the strike and used his free hand to chop at Marina's wrist, making her drop the sword. He then grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, using the knife in his other hand to slice into the rose tattoo on her neck.

Marina went very still as blood ran down her neck, staining Sam's hand. The blade seemed to have gone a little deeper than Sam had intended and she slumped in his arms. Sam ended up having to fall to the ground with her, landing heavily on his knees and wincing as fire raced along his stomach. "Marina?" He moved his hands to her shoulders, squeezing gently.

When the swan maiden lifted her head to look at Sam, there was grief and horror on her face. The green light was gone from her eyes, but she sounded lost as she spoke slowly. "Mab, she... my sisters... they're all... gone..."

Sam flinched at Marina's words. He knew how bad it was to lose his brother; and he also knew that no amount of words would ever heal that sort of ache. But he had to try anyway. "I'm so sorry," he said and lightly touched the gash on her neck. "That's probably going to need stitches." It would be better to have something else for her to focus on – and it wasn't like he could take her to the hospital anyway. "You need to let me treat it." He spoke slowly, as if he were talking to a small animal.

"Okay..." Marina slowly put her hand to her neck, peering at the blood on her fingers.

Sam reached for his duffel bag, taking out the first aid kit he always made sure he had with him. He gently brushed Marina's hair to one side, away from the wound in her neck, opening the bag to take out the antiseptic spray. He put some on a cloth and carefully cleaned the gash in Marina's neck, holding her steady with his other hand after putting the knife on the ground. She whimpered and tried to pull away, but Sam held her firmly. "Sorry, but this is necessary." He knew it probably wouldn't kill her, but walking around bleeding was hardly going to help.

Marina said nothing, but she clearly didn't like it. When Sam reached into his bag for the needle and thread, she immediately flinched back, staring at them in his hands with wide eyes. "What are you going to do with those?"

"I need to sew up the gash in your neck," Sam explained patiently. "I know it'll be painful, but when I cut the tattoo in your neck, the knife went a little too deep." He frowned down at the needle in his hand. "I need to sterilise it." He took out a flask of alcohol out of the bag and unstoppered it, pouring a little over the needle after rinsing his hands in the nearby lake. He then threaded the string through the needle and began sewing up Marina's gash, careful not to go too deep.

* * *

><p>The passage through the water was a fairly interesting one, but Clefe's grip on Castiel's hand was a little tight. As if sensing his discomfort, Clefe glanced back over her shoulder at Castiel. <em>"Are you all right, angel-boy?"<em>

She wasn't speaking out loud, but Castiel could still hear her words. It was like the water was acting as a conductor for her speech. Castiel guessed he shouldn't be that surprised, since she was a mermaid. But would it work for him to communicate? Well, he might as well try. _"How far away is this lake?"_ This way of communicating was similar to how Castiel communicated with his brothers and sisters in heaven. They didn't have bodies there; not in the way humans understood.

"_It is not too far,"_ Clefe replied, a trace of amusement in her voice. _"Why? Is my company unbearable for you?"_

"_I have no feelings about it either way,"_ Castiel replied. The water around them was suddenly filled with dirt and rocks and he closed his eyes briefly, opening them again as he accessed Gabriel's portion of power and used it to protect his eyes. He could feel the pollution in the water around them; and a glance at Clefe revealed that the pollution was badly affecting her. Her skin appeared dry and flaky, veins standing out prominently in her arms.

Castiel stopped, pulling back in the water. When Clefe turned to look at him in surprise, he pulled her closer. _"This is where the season fairy is?"_ At her nod, he continued, _"I will go on alone from here."_

Clefe opened her mouth, but closed it again when Castiel touched gentle fingers to her battered skin. She just stared at him as he healed her, a white light seeping from his fingers and into her skin. _"Remain here,"_ he told her. _"I will return."_

Clefe nodded slowly and then carefully pulled her head free from Castiel's touch, swimming past him with a flick of her tail.

With Clefe out of his way, Castiel could now see that there was an underwater cave below them. He glanced back over his shoulder to make sure the mermaid was out of danger and then moved down to the cave, finding that he was almost weightless in the water.

When he got to the entrance of the cave, Castiel could immediately sense the presence of the season fairy there. He swam into the cave, finding her just inside the entrance tangled inside plants growing on the cave walls. He reached out and touched his fingers to the plants, causing them to crumble away and drop the season fairy. He caught her in his arms, noticing that – like Clefe – her skin was damaged and bleeding, though much worse – apparently because she'd been in the polluted lake for so much longer than Clefe had.

Castiel slowly left the cave with Drada in his arms, swimming back to where Clefe was. As soon as he got the season fairy to safe water, he then used the powers to heal her. He looked at Clefe. _"I should go now."_

"_Hey."_ Clefe reached for his arm, but stopped short of actually touching him. _"You're not getting rid of me that easily. I can't leave the water, but that doesn't mean I can't offer you any help."_


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen**

By the time Sam had finished stitching up the wound in Marina's neck, his fingers were stained with blood and he was wishing he had something a lot stronger to drink. At least the swan maiden hadn't made any attempt to pull away, though Sam knew perfectly well that it had to be painful. He finally put the needle and thread away and rinsed his hands in the water. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

Marina said nothing, but there were tears in her eyes. Slowly, Sam reached out to slip an arm around her shoulders. He didn't say anything, knowing there were no words. After a moment, he felt Marina press her head into his shoulder, her body shaking with silent sobs.

Sam did nothing more than simply hold on to her, not trying to say anything. He knew what she was going through and that nothing would help. Somewhere in the back of his mind was the thought that they didn't have a whole lot of time left, but there wasn't a whole lot he could do about that right now. He didn't have any idea of where he was, let alone how to get back.

It took Sam a few moments to realise his cell phone was ringing. He kept his arm around Marina's shoulders as he reached into his pocket with his other hand and took the phone out, putting it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Sam?" Castiel replied. "I have the season fairy. Where are you?"

"I... really wish I knew." Sam looked around the forest. "I'm in a forest somewhere... But I have Marina the swan maiden with me," he added. "You can find where she is and come to us, r...?" His voice cut off as he heard the sound of rustling wings behind him and he turned his head to see Castiel standing there.

The angel was holding an unconscious woman in his arms. He glanced at Marina and then at Sam. "What is wrong with her?"

"She's in a bad way," Sam answered. "Her sisters are dead." Guessing that talking about it really wouldn't help Marina feel any better, he changed the subject. "So that's her?"

Castiel nodded. "Her name is Drada. I left Clefe in one of the lakes not too far from here." Castiel paused briefly. "She claims she wishes to continue helping us. I do not know how much she can be trusted, but if we need her, then I know where she is."

Sam nodded slowly, standing up, releasing his arm from around Marina. He looked down at the swan maiden. "You up to finding the others? Or do you need a bit more time."

Marina slowly wiped a hand across her eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath. She then leaned over the lake, splashing some water on her face. After a few moments, she looked up, her face pale and her eyes slightly red. "I don't need any more time," she whispered, before bending down to pick up her sword, tucking it back into her belt.

Sam knelt down to pick up his gun and knife, shoving them back away. He then dialled Dean's number, putting his cell phone to his ear.

His brother answered after a few rings, sounding a little breathless. "Yeah? Sam? You okay?"

"Uh-uh... Cass found one of the season fairies," Sam answered.

"Great. We found the other two," Dean said.

It took Sam a few moments to realise the sort of tone he was hearing from his brother – and when he did, he groaned. "Seriously, Dean? You couldn't go more than a few minutes without..." He broke off, remembering that he had both an angel and an emotionally scarred fairy with him, and sighed. "Never mind. Look, I need to know where you are." He stepped away from the others, lowering his voice. "Be careful what you say to Kaede. I've got Marina here. She got freed from the curse, but the rest of them are dead."

"Ahh... Damn," Dean muttered. "Look, we're at the same motel as before. Just... don't barge into the room, okay? Give me a moment to tell Kaede what's happened to Ryssa's sisters."

"Why would you...?" Sam cut himself off as he realised. He was silent for a few moments. "You told her, didn't you? Who you are?"

"Yeah." Dean sighed a little. "She took it... surprisingly well. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm thinking we might try dating or something – once this is over with."

Sam paused. "Dean... you've never tried dating anyone before."

"Yeah, well, I'm thinking maybe it's about time for things to change," Dean replied. "Don't take too long, Sammy. I'm banking on there being a way out." With those words, he hung up.

Sam stared at the cell phone and then sighed, turning to Castiel. "He's at the motel. They found the other two season fairies. Looks like we've got what we need to stop Mab..." He remembered what Mist had gleaned from Titania; that stopping one threat might help the other. But how was that possible? Fairies and angels were completely different.

Castiel nodded, glancing at Marina and then at Sam. "Are we all going?" he asked.

Sam nodded slowly. "I think so. It's not like we can leave her anywhere." He took a deep breath. "Just take us to outside the motel room... not actually inside. Okay?"

"Okay," Castiel agreed – though he looked slightly confused.

* * *

><p>Dean stared at the cell phone in his hand and then glanced at Kaede, who was lying on the bed next to him. Maybe he should have waited for Sam to come back. Just because he was sleeping with Kaede didn't mean he was going to be much good at sensitivity. "Sam and Cass found the other season fairy."<p>

Kaede blinked a few times and tilted her head slightly. "That's a good thing, though, right? What were you talking on the phone about?"

Dean took a deep breath. "Okay, well... Sam's got Marina with him."

For a moment, Kaede just looked confused. Then, she seemed to realise what Dean meant. "What about the others?"

Dean hesitated, not sure how to say it. Kaede wasn't going to be happy and he wasn't sure he could deal with having to comfort someone grieving. He wasn't good with the chick-flick moments even when it came to his brother. But he would have problems if he didn't say anything at all – and not just from what Sam would say. "Mab killed them," he said quietly.

"What?" Kaede sat up, staring at Dean. "Why would she do that? Wasn't cursing them enough?" She was shaking, but Dean couldn't tell if it was from cold or anger. "They didn't do anything wrong..."

"I know." Dean reached for Kaede, not sure how to react when she closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder. Despite how sure of himself he'd been with Sam on the phone, he really didn't know what was going to happen; not least because he was in fact registered dead.

Of course, if they didn't survive the apocalypse, then he had nothing to worry about.

There was a quiet knock on the door and Kaede jerked her head up, glancing towards it. "Sammy," Dean said with a pretended impatient sigh. "The kid has impeccable timing." He got off the bed and started pulling his clothes on. "We can talk in another room and you can stay in here, if you want."

Kaede shook her head, slipping her own clothes back on. "No. I don't exactly know who I am right now, but Ryssa's still a part of me. I should be there for Marina."

Dean nodded and walked to the door, opening it. The first thing he saw was blood on Sam's shirt and he pulled his brother into the room, only sparing a glance at the others – Gabriel, Castiel, Mist and Marina – as they came into the room. "What happened?" he demanded.

"It's fine, Dean. Cass healed me," Sam replied. "I'm more concerned about what Mab might be planning. I need to take a shower, though. I'm all sticky." He headed through to the washroom.

"We need a bigger room," Dean muttered, looking round at the others. Kaede was sitting on the bed they'd just been on and Dean sat down next to her. "Okay, so... What do we have?"

Marina spoke up, her voice soft and filled with pain. "My sisters and I aren't going to be causing any more problems." She turned her head a little and Dean could see a bandage covering her neck, right where the rose tattoo had been. She stayed against the wall, clearly not wanting to approach anyone in the room.

Dean nodded slowly. "Okay, good. What about the season fairies?" he asked Gabriel and Castiel.

"They are healed physically, but we do not know what sort of damage there is to their souls," Castiel answered. "Gabriel is keeping them asleep for now, but we must be prepared for the possibility that they have been badly damaged."

"As if things weren't hard enough," Dean muttered. "So how are we going to work this with Titania? If we don't know whether or not we can trust them..." His voice trailed off and he sighed. "We can't take three unconscious fairies with us."

Gabriel shrugged. "We don't all need to go. Cassy, Sammyboy and Marina can stay here."

"Kaede's staying as well," Dean said immediately.

"Why?" Kaede asked. "I'm clearly involved in this as well."

"That's exactly why I don't want you coming," Dean replied. "I don't know why Titania gave us the information we needed to find you, but I don't trust her. She might not be as bad as her sister, but that doesn't mean she's going to help us." Dean didn't say the words, but they hung in the air between them. That he wasn't going to let history repeat itself.

Kaede huffed out an exasperated sigh. "Fine," she said. "I guess that makes sense. But you have to tell me what she says."

"Don't worry. You won't miss out." Dean glanced towards the door of the washroom as Sam came through, dressed, and stood up. "Hey, Sammy. Gabe, Mist and I are going to see Titania. You think you can stay here and be Mr. Sensitive?" He nodded towards Marina.

"Yeah; and Dean, maybe you could learn some tact," Sam muttered, heading over to Marina.

"Don't hold your breath." Dean took a gentle hold of Kaede's chin and brushed a gentle kiss over her lips. "You be careful. Don't leave the motel, okay?" He saw Sam rolling his eyes out of the corner of his gaze, but decided to ignore his brother.

Kaede nodded. "Be careful. Don't leave the motel. Got it." She paused. "Can I at least order in something to eat?"

"Yeah – but make sure you save me something." Dean took out a credit card and passed it to her. "Don't ask," he added, seeing her staring at the name on the card.

"Okay... you be careful too," Kaede said.

Dean smirked. "Careful's my middle name." He stepped over to Gabriel and Mist. "You two ready to go find Titania, then?"

"Yeah. And then we can figure out how to stop Mab and my brother." Gabriel glanced at Mist and then reached out for Dean's shoulder. "Brace yourself."

"Trust me, I'm already braced." Dean was tempted to squeeze his eyes shut, but that really would be taking the coward's way out. As much as he strongly disliked this form of transport, it wasn't like they had much of a choice. And he was damned if he was going to show Gabriel how much he hated this.

But when the world fell away, Dean felt his stomach drop out from under him.

* * *

><p>Once they were back in Titania's palace, Dean registered that Titania seemed to be in a much worse shape than before. She was slumped on the throne and her face was turning gray, her hair losing its vibrant colour. Dean glanced at Gabriel and then around at the other fairies in the palace, before looking back at the angel. "What's wrong with her now?" he whispered.<p>

"You know, there's nothing wrong with her hearing," Mist whispered. "You might as well just ask her and save yourself the trouble."

Titania slowly lifted her head and beckoned them with a thin hand.

Almost automatically, Dean found himself in front of Mist with Gabriel. He didn't know about the angel, but he wasn't sure he wanted to let Titania get her hands on Mist again. The last time she'd done that, it clearly hadn't been very good for the fairy. And Dean had the sneaky suspicion he'd hit fairly close to the mark with his comment about Mist being Gabriel's ex-girlfriend.

"You want to know what's wrong with me?" Titania leaned forward slightly on her throne, looking worse the closer they got to her. "Mab is growing in power. Lucifer has joined forces with her in a temporary alliance."

"Wait... I thought Lucifer hated fairies," Dean said. "Or at least strongly disliked them."

"He does." Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "But it would be easy to join forces with a fairy and get rid of them after destroying humanity. Besides, I wouldn't put it past him to use her as a vessel. She'd be better able to hold him than most humans."

"Well, that's just great," Dean muttered. "So we've got an angel and a fairy to deal with? You said you've got a way to stop them both, though, right?"

"Yes, so long as you have found all of the season fairies," Titania answered.

"My sisters are safe and all together," Mist said from behind Dean and Gabriel.

"Good." Titania slowly got up from the throne, holding onto the arm to support herself. "A weapon was hidden here a very long time ago. The only way to free it is through the efforts of the four season fairies." She looked over Dean and Gabriel's heads at Mist. "You must be able to access the powers of your sisters."

"And do what?" Mist asked.

"You will see." Titania lifted her hand and the floor began to tremble.

"What...?" Dean immediately stepped back, just as the floor opened up where he'd been standing. Peering down, he could see a huge dark pit that he couldn't see the bottom of. "That doesn't look so complicated to get into..."

Titania raised her eyebrows and then lifted a hand. As she did so, a light grew slowly in the pit. As it did, Dean could see that there was what appeared to be something frozen at the bottom of the hole. He couldn't see much, but it was obvious there was _something_ there. "Okay, so what's a weapon doing down there?"

"It was left there." Titania shrugged. "Waiting to be broken free; waiting for the right time." She nodded to Mist behind them. "You can access the powers of your sisters as long as they are all in the world. You must act as the 'focus' to bring the weapon out of its prison."

Gabriel leaned in close to Mist's ear and Dean heard him whisper, "Is this going to affect you?"

Mist shook her head. "No. Not while my sisters are in the world." She stepped forward, past Dean and Gabriel, and raised her hands. Energy raced through her hands and – for several moments – everything got too bright to see anything. Dean winced, raising his hand to shield his eyes. By the time the light had faded, Mist was on her knees next to the hole – and a long sword was lying at her feet.

Gabriel stepped over to Mist's side, crouching down next to her. His eyes went to the sword on the ground and then he moved back a little. "That's Michael's sword."


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen**

Sam glanced at Castiel and then looked at Marina and Kaede. "So... does anyone else want to eat or are we just ordering for me, Kaede and Dean?"

Castiel shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

Marina said nothing, just still leaning against the wall, staring down at the floor rather than looking at any of the others. Her arms were wrapped around herself, but she kept lightly touching the bandage on her neck.

"Pizza all right?" Kaede asked Sam.

Sam shrugged. "Sure. Dean'll be happy with that anyway." He stepped over to Marina, taking her hand and gently pulling it away from her neck. "You shouldn't play with it. It needs to heal."

"When it does heal... will I be back under Mab's control?" Marina asked, looking at him.

Sam shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it cut deep enough to scar. Just make sure you don't let Mab get her hands on you again, okay?" He lightly brushed his fingertips over her neck, then glanced at Castiel. "I'm a little worried that there's no sign of Mab right now. Do you think she's biding her time, waiting for the right moment to strike?"

"It is difficult to say," Castiel admitted. "She attempted to kill you once already. There would be no reason for her to stay away – unless she is indeed waiting for something." He paused, glancing towards the door of the motel room. "Perhaps I should speak with Clefe and find out if she knows anything."

Sam frowned. "It's hard to believe that she could, given just how sheltered she's been."

Castiel shrugged. "Still, it would be better to find out if she knows anything. I believe she is waiting close by here anyway, so I could speak with her and then come back."

Sam looked at Kaede and Marina, wondering if they were both going to be all right. It didn't look like Kaede was affected in the same way as Marina was by the deaths of the swan maidens. Then again, it wasn't like he knew exactly what she was going through. It was kind of strange to think that maybe Dean was more in tune with Kaede than Sam could ever be.

Of course, competing with a past life was virtually impossible.

"We'll be all right," Sam said, nodding slightly to Castiel. He watched as the angel disappeared and then looked at Marina. "If you need to talk about it, I don't mind listening," he said quietly.

Marina nodded, but didn't look up at Sam. "I... I just want to think about something else," she admitted. "I've lost all of my sisters... except for my youngest, who isn't even a fairy any more..." She closed her eyes briefly. "Can I just focus on something else for a moment? Please?"

"Sure." Sam knew how she was feeling and he reached out to lightly touch her shoulder. "My brother's gone to find a way of destroying Mab. I'm sure there will be a way you can help us and get revenge on her." Perhaps revenge wasn't the best thing for someone to focus on, but to be honest, it had been all Sam could think about while Dean was in hell. And if he hadn't had anything to channel his energy into, he probably would have gone even further off the rails.

Of course, it hadn't been of much help to him when Ruby had basically manipulated him into setting Lucifer free. Sam was still feeling the guilt from that, even though he knew Dean had forgiven him. Not through words, of course. Dean hated chick flick moments the same way he hated anything that didn't have a thousand calories.

Kaede glanced at the phone and then over at Marina. She opened her mouth and then closed it again, looking down briefly. "I wish I knew what to say... I still have trouble remembering who I am."

Marina just shook her head. "You are human now and have been living life as a human. I cannot expect you to have the same feelings about this as I do." She slowly walked over to the other bed and sat down on it. "I will be all right. I will grieve, but when I have the time to. I can't think about them now."

There was complete silence from Kaede – and then she reached for the phone. "So... pizza?" she said, glancing at both Sam and Marina. "Might as well have something unhealthy and full of fat." She took a deep breath and started dialling.

* * *

><p>"I did think that maybe you would have been gone by now," Castiel said, standing next to the lake and looking down at Clefe, who was floating in the water, her skin completely back to normal.<p>

Clefe tilted her head slightly. "There's no point in going back to my home. You may still need my help. Besides, I have a... vested interest in seeing you all succeed." She smiled, tilting her head back slightly to allow her hair to trail in the water. "It might interest you to know there were two fairies trailing you. Two of Mab's creatures. I... took care of them."

Castiel crouched down next to the lake. "You killed them?"

"They weren't expecting you to have a mermaid on your team..." Clefe lowered herself until she was submerged in the water right up to her neck. "Since, you know, we're not supposed to exist any more and all that."

"That is something I don't understand," Castiel said. "How is it possible for a mermaid to become human?"

"Not just mermaids," Clefe replied. "Any fairy could become human if they chose to. Most don't. It's a major sacrifice, to go from a virtually immortal creature that's really hard to kill to... well, a weakling. Most of them do it for love. Or... whatever."

Castiel frowned, wondering just how many humans might have once been fairies. There was Kaede, of course... but if it was so rare, then perhaps she was the only one. "Is that what happened to the other mermaids?"

Clefe gave a single nod. "Yes – but certain conditions have to be met. A mermaid cannot stay on land without something to 'anchor' herself to her human form. The other mermaids all became foam because the humans they chose for their life partners were unfaithful to them, or had feelings for someone else."

"And you have no intentions of putting yourself through that?" Castiel guessed. "I must return to the hotel now. Will you tell me if you see any more fairies?"

"How do you want me to tell you?" Clefe asked sweetly. "Should I create an enormous splash?"

"I'm sure you will find a way." Castiel stood up. "I am not sure what Dean and Sam intend to do with the season fairies once this is finished. It may be necessary to find somewhere safe for them to stay. In either case, perhaps this is something you could think about." He didn't give Clefe a chance to reply, instead porting himself back to the hotel.

* * *

><p>Dean blinked, glancing at Gabriel and then at the sword lying on the floor. "You mean your brother's lost his sword?"<p>

"I don't know – it must have disappeared after I left," Gabriel replied. "But I can't imagine he doesn't have a weapon at all." He looked at Titania. "How do you expect this to kill Mab? An angel's sword works on most creatures, but not fairies. And especially not if Lucifer's possessing her."

"The sword has been here long enough to absorb energy from my realm," Titania answered. "But there's a specific way of activating it. There's something you have to do."

"What?" Dean asked warily.

"It requires the blood of one who used to be a fairy but is now human," Titania replied.

"No." Dean gave a sharp shake of his head. "I know where you're going with this. It's not happening. She's not dying again."

"There is no other way..." Titania began.

"Then find one!" Dean snapped. "We don't sacrifice people, no matter what."

"You would save one person and damn the world?" Titania asked quietly.

Gabriel spoke up, snorting softly. "The Winchester brothers are perfectly willing to sacrifice themselves... but if it comes to someone else, you can forget it." He reached out, but didn't take the sword. "We should take it anyway."

"If you don't intend to use it, you shouldn't take it," Titania replied.

"My brother may still need the sword," Gabriel said. He took the weapon and – with a slight gesture – made it disappear. "We'll figure something out," he told Titania. "Dean and Sam make their living from apparently hopeless situations." He turned to Mist, raising his eyebrows. "Are you coming? Or are you staying here?"

Mist blinked at him. "Why wouldn't I be coming?"

"Okay." Gabriel took her hand and then reached for Dean. "Better brace yourself, Deano. We're going back."

"You think you could just take us and not worry about warning me?" No sooner had the words left him, though, than he immediately regretted them – as it felt like his stomach was turning inside out as they appeared in the middle of the motel room. He stumbled back away from Gabriel, sitting down hard on the bed Kaede was on. "Jeez..."

"You didn't want me to warn you." Gabriel smirked.

Dean shook his head and stuck his middle finger up at the angel. He then reached over to snag a slice of pizza. "Mmm... greasy and unhealthy. Just the way I like it."

"Did you find out anything?" Kaede asked.

Dean swallowed his bite of the pizza, feeling it stick in his throat. He reached for Sam's duffel bag, opening it and taking out a beer. He popped it open and took a long gulp. It didn't really help him feel any better, but at least it gave him a few moments to come up with a good story. "Nope, she didn't tell us anything. Don't know why she told us to find the season fairies." Okay, so it wasn't a good story – but it was far better than the alternative.

He wasn't telling Kaede what Titania had said.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Kaede asked.

"We'll think of something." Dean got off the bed, heading over to Sam and Castiel. "I need to talk to you both," he said quietly.

"Sure." Sam glanced over at Marina. "We'll be right back." He then opened the door and stepped out into the corridor with Dean and Castiel. "What's wrong?"

Dean glanced at the door and then sighed heavily, lowering his voice. "Listen, you can't tell Kaede this, but... Titania did give us something. She had Michael's sword – his weapon, not me – and she got Mist to get it out of wherever it had been stashed. Some kind of pit, I think." He hesitated, glancing briefly at the door, before continuing. "Titania said it needs to be activated. The problem is, the activation requires blood. The blood of someone who used to be a fairy."

Sam also looked at the door and then cursed under his breath. "I'm guessing we're not telling Kaede this."

Dean shook his head. "That would be a _really_ bad idea. I don't want her getting any ideas about sacrificing herself." He looked at both his brother and the angel with narrowed eyes. "So we're not telling her. Okay?"

Sam nodded. "I can get behind that."

"Clefe killed two fairies who came here on Mab's behalf," Castiel said.

"Who's Clefe?" Dean frowned.

"That's the mermaid Cass made friends with," Sam answered.

"You made friends with a mermaid?" Dean shook his head. "Thought they didn't even exist."

"That's pretty much what Bobby said," Sam replied. "I get the feeling there aren't many mermaids left. Clefe was on her own in the lake where we found her."

Dean frowned. "Okay, so how did the others get killed? I thought fairies were technically immortal."

Sam shrugged. "Clefe said the others lost their tails and became sea foam. I'm not sure what that means... maybe they became human and died?" He looked at the door. "Dean, what are we gonna do now?"

"I don't know." Dean wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was feeling tired. He didn't have any ideas about how to stop Lucifer; and of the two paths they had open to them, neither possibility would be preferable. "Titania said Lucifer and Mab have joined forces. I mean _really_ joined forces." He looked at his brother, then at Cass and then back again. "Looks like, Sam, you don't need to worry about being Lucifer's vessel."

Sam's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"It _does_ seem like something he would do," Castiel mused thoughtfully.

"Dean... That means you could say yes to Michael without worrying about anything happening to me," Sam said, a note of hope edging his tone.

"Whoa... Stop right there, Sammy," Dean said, holding his hands up. "I'm not just going to give myself over for angel fodder... no offence, Cass," he added. "Besides, if I open myself to Michael and he finds out Kaede's death activates his sword and makes it possible for him to kill two birds with one stone, what do you think he's gonna do?"

"Good point." Sam sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Okay, so I guess maybe we should sleep on it... figure something out in the morning?" he suggested, not sounding too hopeful.

Dean smiled, even though he couldn't really see much humour in the situation. "That's the best idea I've heard today."

"I will go and make sure everything is safe, since I do not need to sleep," Castiel suggested. With a rustle of wings, he was gone.


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty**

"Don't you ever sleep?"

Castiel glanced over at Clefe, who was watching him with her arms folded in front of her, head tilted to one side. "I do not need to sleep."

"You're an angel, aren't you?" Clefe asked. "The first one I've met... you're not as arrogant as I would have expected, though."

"I have spent a lot of time with humans," Castiel admitted. "Some would say far too much." He hesitated, but couldn't deny that he was curious – a feeling that had been alien to him before meeting the Winchesters. "Were you the one who cursed the swan maidens?"

"No," Clefe answered. "I wasn't lying to you. But I do know who did."

"Who was it?"

"My father," the mermaid answered. "A human, mostly... but he had magical powers. Not many, but enough to give him some foresight; to create the curse." She hesitated briefly. "He argued forcefully against burning the swan maiden – at least not without a fair trial first. But humans always turn against what they can't understand."

"You were alive at the time?"

Clefe picked idly at a blade of grass. "Just a baby then. My father sent me and my mother away while he tried to stop the bloodshed. But he failed." She yawned widely and then leaned her head against her arms. "I'm bored now. I want to talk about something else."

Castiel nodded slowly, though he was a little uncertain. "What would you like to talk about?"

"How about telling me why you're so concerned with saving the world," Clefe suggested. "Averting the apocalypse and all that... it's a pretty tall order, even for an angel."

"It was not that long ago I would have followed orders without question," Castiel admitted. "But Sam and his brother showed me a different way. I believe the desires of my brothers and sisters for the end of the world are wrong." He broke off, noticing that Clefe was glancing back over her shoulder. "What is it?"

"You may want to make yourself invisible," Clefe suggested. "Or come into the water with me. Some of Mab's fairies are on their way – but there's something strange about them." She frowned. "It's almost like... there's something else inside them."

"I must go and investigate," Castiel decided. He started off, wrapping his trench coat around him.

"Hey!" Clefe called after him. When he turned round, she spoke. "Be careful."

Castiel nodded. "You be careful too." He then turned and left.

* * *

><p>Sam wasn't quite sure how he'd ended up agreeing to share a separate room with Marina. What he <em>should<em> have done was insisted they all stick together – with the exception of Castiel, who was currently on guard duty. But Sam had quite clearly seen where things were going with the other four; and to be honest, he had no desire to see his brother's... well, _anything_... again.

So Sam had drawn the short straw and had to buy a third room, which he was now sharing with Marina. The swan maiden was sitting with her back against the wall, arms wrapped around her knees. She was staring into space, a distant look in her eyes.

Sam walked over to Marina and sat down on the bed. "Want to talk about it?"

Marina shook her head. "No. I just want my sisters back..." She dashed the back of her hand across her eyes.

"I'm sorry..." Sam reached out, hesitated, and then put his hand on Marina's shoulder. "I know what it must be like. If you need to talk about it at all..." He hesitated. "Well, I'll listen." It was all he could really do for her. He knew nothing could ever really fill the hole left from losing someone close.

Marina nodded slowly, staring at her hands. "Yeah..." She sighed, tilting her head back slightly to stare at the ceiling. "I just want it to be over."

* * *

><p>"Did Titania really not tell you anything helpful?" Kaede asked, her head resting on Dean's chest.<p>

Dean let his fingers drift through Kaede's hair. "Nah. She didn't tell us anything. Just wanted us to rescue the season fairies."

"But surely there was a reason?"

"Could we not talk about that right now? Isn't there something else we could focus on?"

Kaede was silent for a few moments. "You know, I never really knew much about you – even when you were Philip and our past selves were married. Maybe that was the problem."

Dean looked at her. "Was there something you wanted to know?"

"I think there's so much... but I don't mind learning as we go." Kaede closed her eyes. "Anyway, so long as things can be relatively normal..." Her voice trailed off and she got a strange expression on her face – as though she wanted to smile, but couldn't find the strength. "But things won't ever be really normal again... Will they?"

Dean was silent for several moments, knowing there wasn't much he could say to make things sound better. Finally, he spoke. "You should try to sleep. Things will be better in the morning."

There was no reply from Kaede and Dean heard her breathing even out into sleep. For his part, though, he lay awake – wishing he had the answers; that he could tell the others everything would be all right.

* * *

><p>"We can't keep them asleep forever," Mist commented, standing at the adjoining door once more, looking through to where her sisters were lying on the bed. "But each of them is wounded... Waking them will bring its own problems."<p>

Gabriel slipped his arms around Mist from behind. He gently kissed her neck and pulled her away from the door. "You shouldn't worry about them right now. While they're in the world, you're not going to lose yourself." He pushed the door closed.

Mist turned round to face him, leaning into his arms and closing her eyes as he fingered the ice on her eyelashes. "Where did you put Michael's sword?" she whispered.

"It's in Dean's room." Gabriel leaned in to gently kissed her, feeling how cold her lips were – but it wasn't uncomfortable. "I don't want to think about my brother." He gently pulled her over to the bed and down onto the mattress with him.


	22. Chapter Twenty One

**Chapter Twenty One**

Dean slowly stirred, a foul stench assaulting his nose. There was a familiar sense to it – but he couldn't immediately place what the smell was. Without opening his eyes, he reached out, surprised when his fingers didn't immediately encounter another person. "Kaede?" His fingers touched something warm and sticky. Dean's eyes immediately flew open and he sat bolt upright, grabbing the gun under his pillow.

There was blood at the end of the bed – far more than a minor cut would have caused. Dean slipped off the bed, going round to the foot. A forceful curse escaped him and he dropped to his knees next to Kaede's body, reaching out to place two fingers against her throat.

Blood had flowed from Michael's sword, which had been stabbed into Kaede's chest. The blade had been pushed in at an angle, piercing her heart under her rib cage. The carpet under her was crimson, saturated with her blood. Dean swore again, feeling for Kaede's wrist this time – even though he knew there was no hope; that she was... dead.

There was a rustle of wings in the room and Dean looked up, standing slowly as he saw it was Castiel. "Looks like Michael's sword is gonna be effective against the Mab and Lucifer combination." He spoke flatly, not wanting to even think about what was behind him. He couldn't deal with it.

Castiel looked past Dean and then back at him. "I'm sorry, Dean," he said quietly. "What happened?"

"I don't know. It must have happened while I was asleep." Even as he said that, though, Dean realised just how strange it was that he'd slept through Kaede being stabbed. He was such a light sleeper, there was only one likely explanation – that someone had deliberately forced him to sleep.

Castiel seemed to have the same thought, frowning as he spoke. "I doubt an angel would have come here without either Gabriel or myself noticing."

"It must have been Titania's doing." Dean glanced back over at Kaede and then knelt to pull the sword out of her chest. A small part of him noticed that the sword was glowing with an eerie white light. He ignored that, though, as he carefully closed Kaede's eyes. Even with her in his arms, he still hadn't been able to protect her. "So why are you here anyway?"

"There are fairies approaching," Castiel answered. "Clefe hid away at first – but after I went to see how many there were, she offered to keep an eye on them."

"Are Lucifer and Mab there?" Dean asked quietly.

Castiel nodded gravely. But before he could say anything, there was a knock on the door. Dean looked up and then slowly dropped the sword to the bed. "Come in," he said shortly.

The door was pushed open and Marina shoved past Sam, running past Dean and dropping to her knees next to Kaede. She reached out, gently touching Kaede's neck, and then looked up at Dean. She didn't speak, but her eyes were filled with reproach.

Dean stepped away, walking over to Sam, unwilling to answer Marina's silent accusation. "Cass said there are fairies coming. Mab and Lucifer are here too."

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"Pretty sure it was Titania," Dean replied. "I don't know exactly, but I'm guessing she convinced Kaede that her death was the best option." He took a deep breath. "Looks like nothing's stopping me from calling for Michael now."

"Dean..." Sam began – then broke off, glancing back over his shoulder as Gabriel and Mist came out into the corridor. He turned back to Dean. "Be careful," he said quietly.

"I'm doing this outside." Dean returned to the room, gathering the sword up. He didn't even glance at the carnage on the floor as he left the room once more.

* * *

><p>Outside the motel, it was still fairly dark. Dean stood in the middle of the parking lot, holding the sword in both hands. He then dropped it to the ground, tilting his head back slightly to look at the sky. "Okay then," he muttered. "I don't know if you're listening to me... but I'm saying yes, Michael. You hear me? Your brother's possessing a fairy. So you need to come take care of him."<p>

There was absolute silence. Dean lowered his head, looking around slowly. He couldn't see anything, but that didn't mean Michael wasn't there. "Come on!" he yelled.

Dean was about ready to give up and go back to the motel, but he heard the sound of rushing wings behind him. He turned round, seeing a bright light coming towards him. Before he could react, the bright light entered him.

Despite himself, Dean couldn't help flinching back a little. He'd never been possessed before, but it felt like an invasion. His first inclination was to withdraw his permission, but he wasn't even sure that would be possible,

_Don't be afraid,_ a voice said inside his mind. _I just need to use your body to stop my brother._

_I'm not afraid,_ Dean said firmly.

Michael didn't say anything, but Dean got the feeling he wasn't convinced. The angel used Dean's body to crouch down and pick up his sword. _I'm sorry,_ Michael said simply, before turning in one swift move, aiming the sword at Gabriel.

"Whoa..." Gabriel held his hands up. "Just came to see if you needed any help."

"Gabriel..." Michael slowly lowered his sword. "Where have you been?"

"I was investigating some problems on the Earth," Gabriel replied, sounding completely innocent. He hesitated, glancing away and then back at Michael. "Sorry."

As far as Dean could tell, Michael's expression didn't change. He didn't know why he wasn't sleeping, but he could sense that Michael was unhappy; that there was a strange sense of grief coming from him. Or perhaps it wasn't that strange. After all, Gabriel was one of Michael's brothers. And losing him had to have been hard.

"This is my job to do,"Michael said, not unkindly. "You and the others should stay inside and keep out of the fight."

"There are other fairies coming as well," Gabriel answered. "You might be the General of Heaven, Michael, but even _you_ can't fight at least ten fairies as well as Lucifer – particularly if they're possessed by demons."

Dean could feel Michael considering that. Finally, the angel nodded. "Very well." He seemed about to say something else, but then he suddenly whipped his head to the side, so fast that – if Dean had made that movement – he would have given himself whiplash. "He's here." It was spoken as calmly as Michael had said everything else, but once again, Dean could feel the sadness inside him.

"Are you going to kill him?" Gabriel asked.

"You should let me worry about that." Michael moved forward, his blade coming down in front of him. As he moved, Mab stepped into view, flanked on either side by fairies. "Hello, brother," Michael said calmly.

Dean heard the sound of rushing wings behind him, but because Michael was facing Lucifer, he couldn't glance behind him to see who it was.

"We don't have to fight, Michael," Lucifer said, taking a step forward. "You must know that Daddy's been planning for us to kill each other since the start." He moved closer to Michael, but stopped at what was still a safe distance. "We don't have to do this."

"You disobeyed, Lucifer. And you knew from the start it was wrong." Michael didn't turn his head, but Dean was aware of Castiel and Gabriel standing either side of him. "We have no choice in this."

A sword appeared in Lucifer's own hand. "It's a shame, Michael, but I suppose I never could get through to you."

There was the sound of battle from either side, but Michael's main attention was focused on Lucifer – and the two of them circled each other, their blades clashing together.

After that, everything became a blur to Dean. There were blades flashing every which way and Dean could see flashes of lightning moving; but it was as if Michael had pushed Dean back behind an invisible wall.

And then Michael had Lucifer on the ground, his sword at his brother's throat. He was panting hard, staring down at Lucifer – who was glaring up at him, hatred in his eyes. "Go on, then!" he spat. "Take the final step!"

Dean was suddenly sure he didn't want to see this, but it seemed Michael was too unfocused to push Dean back behind the wall. And then the angel raised the sword, sweeping it down towards Lucifer's throat.


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

**Chapter Twenty Two**

The sound of crying pierced through Dean's mind. Michael was still in him – but as the angel lowered his sword, Dean could see two babies lying on the ground, side by side; a little boy and a little girl. _What?_

There was silence from Michael for a few moments – and then he finally spoke, his voice quiet. _Could you kill your brother? At least this way, he has a chance... to learn to be human. He won't remember who he was – not much, anyway. I couldn't make him a human baby without doing the same to Mab._

Dean couldn't help frowning. _You don't intend to give them to _us_ to raise, do you? We're not exactly parent material._

Michael turned Dean round to look at the hotel. Dean noticed dead fairies on the ground, water pooled around two of them. Castiel and Gabriel seemed relatively unhurt. _I can bring her back,_ Michael said.

_You mean Kaede?_

_Do you want that?_

Dean didn't have to even think about it. _Yes._ It was one word. He didn't want to go back to the motel room and face Kaede dead on the floor. He wanted to spend time with her, even though he wasn't sure exactly what that was going to entail.

_Will you look after my brother and Mab?_ Michael asked.

_If that's what it'll take,_ Dean answered.

_Very well._ Michael looked at Castiel and Gabriel. "I will do one last thing and then I will return to Heaven." He reached out and lightly touched Castiel's shoulder.

Castiel gasped, jerking back like he'd been burned. "What did you...?"

"There will be a lot to put right in heaven," Michael said gravely, looking between the two angels. "I would like you both to help me make it better."

"There is something I must do first," Castiel said, before disappearing with a rustle of feathers.

* * *

><p>Castiel appeared next to the lake, looking at Clefe in the water. He remembered two of the fairies had drowned without there being any water around. He looked at the mermaid. "Thank you," he said quietly.<p>

"Are you leaving?" Clefe asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Only for a while," Castiel answered. He crouched down next to the lake. "Will you still be here?"

Clefe just looked at Castiel and then nodded slowly. "I'm not going anywhere."

Castiel reached for Clefe's hand, holding it in both of his. "Then I will see you when I return." He let go of her hand and then stood up, simply disappearing.

* * *

><p>The hotel room seemed fairly crowded, with the two babies in there as well as everyone else – apart from Castiel, who still hadn't come back from wherever he'd gone to.<p>

_This is very crowded in here,_ Dean commented.

Michael made no reply as he walked over to Kaede on the floor and knelt down next to her. He gently placed the sword on her chest and then touched two fingers to her forehead, closing his eyes briefly. Dean wasn't sure what happened, but when Michael opened his eyes again, the sword was gone – and Kaede was breathing.

"_Cover your eyes." _The words came from Michael's mouth and Dean knew he was talking to all of the humans in the room.

Dean felt something lifting from his body. He reached out for Kaede as she opened her eyes, pulling her against his body as he covered his own eyes with an upflung arm. Even though his back was to the rest of the room, the light seemed to fill the whole space, piercing through his skin with so much intensity that Dean knew looking at the light unprotected would burn his eyes out.

And then it was gone. Dean lightly ran his fingers over Kaede's shoulders and then pushed her back so that he could look into her eyes. "Are you all right?" he demanded. "What happened?"

"I don't remember..." Kaede looked around and then slowly reached a hand behind her to touch the blood that had soaked into the carpet. "Did I get hurt?" she asked, confused.

"Don't worry about it." Dean stood up, helping her up as well, and then turned to look at the others in the room. His eyes fell on the two babies lying side by side on the clean bed and he slowly steered Kaede over to it. "We have to take care of these kids." All in all, he supposed it was a fairly small price to pay for the end of apocalypse and to bring Kaede back.

"Dean... we don't exactly have the sort of lives for kids," Sam said.

"Come on, Sammy," Dean replied. "We just averted the apocalypse. About time for normal, don't you think? We could get a house... you could go back to school; maybe look at becoming a hotshot lawyer." He picked up the girl baby and handed her to Kaede, taking the boy into his own arms. "Don't be such a killjoy," he said to his brother.

"We need a fairly big house..." Sam glanced at Marina and then reached out, slowly slipping his hand into hers.

"I've got to go back to Heaven." Gabriel gently kissed Mist and then turned her in the direction of the Winchesters. "Can you take care of her for me till I get back? I won't be that long."

Dean nodded. "Sure. But make sure you hurry back."

With that, Gabriel was gone with a rustle of feathers. Dean looked down at the baby in his arms and then up at his brother, smirking slightly. "So... who's on cleanup duty?"

**The End**

**Author's Note:** And this is it. The end. It could have gone on longer, I suppose, but I think it's better to leave some things to the imagination. I don't intend for there to be a sequel - I think I've pretty much exhausted my creativity for this story.

Major thank you to my beta reader, KuryakinGirl, for sticking with me throughout this story. And thank you to those of you who've read this fic. I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I (mostly) enjoyed writing it.

Thanks for reading!


End file.
